C++ Tutorial: Getting Started

[GFreak45]

Used in and uses: Variables and Functions

Before we get started it would be best if you downloaded Microsoft Visual Studio C++ or some other developer software (Dev C++, Borland, etc), however the VSC++ setup for beginners is the best.

Once it is downloaded we will begin by creating a new empty project, like so:

Now you will have a relatively simple screen with folders along the left, the sections on this screen can be easily reorganized just by dragging the bar along the top of each. Now right click the source code folder and add a new file named Main.cpp of file type cpp (C++ Source code).

From here we can begin to program.

Every program has some entry point, in C++ it is as follows:

int main ()
{
    return 0;
}

this is a function that is run when opening the resulting application (.exe)

From here we add the line:

#include <iostream>

and

using namespace std;

above the function main, and now you should have something like this:

#include <iostream>
 
using namespace std;
 
int main ()
{
    return 0;
}

If you press the debug button (play symbol or F5) it will compile, create an exe, and run it, which will imediately close because this application still does nothing.
To allow the program to remain open as long as you wish add the following line:

system("Pause");

before

return 0;

to pause the application before it exits.

Now we can start interacting with the user. This is done via 2 functions: cout and cin.

cout sends information to the user, like so:

cout << "This is a sentence.";

cin gets information from the user, and places it inside a variable. This does recieve formated information, therefore a user inputing a sentence when you are attempting to cin to an int variable, will cause errors. Useage Example:

int x = 0;
cin >> x;

cin and cout use the >> and << operators, which allow you to input or output more than one thing at a time, ie:

cout << "Letter: " << "a" << "b" << "c";
cin >> x >> y;

there are also a few delimiter characters you can cout to allow you to add "white space" or a space, new line, tab, etc. ie:

cout << "\n" << "\t";

where \n means new line, and \t means tab

To wrap up this tutorial, lets make an application that asks a user for their age, and how much money they have in their savings account, then displays it to them, ie:

Please enter your age: 34
Please enter the ammount of money you have in your savings account: $10000

So you are 34 years old and you have $10000 in your savings account.

Enter any key to continue...

where red words are inputted by the user, and blue words are outputted based on what the user's input was.

how I would do this:

#include <iostream>
 
using namespace std;
 
int main ()
{
    cout << "Please enter your age: ";
    int age = 0;
    cin >> age;
 
    cout << "Please enter the ammount of money you have in your savings account: $";
    int savings = 0;
    cin >> savings;
 
    cout << "\nSo you are " << age << " years old and you have $" << savings << " in your savings account.\n\n";
 
    system("Pause");
    return 0;
}