Refreshing my C++

Aims:

The primary aims of this are:

1. Refresh the basic concepts of C++
2. Learn from a longer, deeper dive into C++
3. Build out a couple of sample applications in C++

Part One: Refreshing the Basics (Mosh Hamedani- C++ for Beginners Tutorial in 1 hour)

I decided to bring myself a little more up-to-date with this introductory tutorial from Mosh to get set up with a modern C++ development platform before going into a much deeper dive.

Notes:

1. I am going to start by provisioning a Windows 11 Hyper-V Virtual Machine for this developer environment.
2. Installation of Visual Studio Code.
3. Build a quick test app - HelloWorld, Done, Success so let’s move on.

Part Two: A Deeper Dive - C++ in One Hour a Day (Sams Teach Yourself)

I had started reading this book about a year ago, and at the time thought that maybe I should look to go through this book in way more detail to get the maximum benefit from its content.

LESSON 1 - Getting Started:

1. A Brief History of C++:
   • Initially developed by Bjarne Stroustroup back in 1979, originally to be a successor to C.
   • Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 supports C++11, C++14 and C++17.
   • C++ is considered an intermediate-level programming language as it allows for both high-level programming of applications as well as low-level programming of libraries that work close to the hardware.
   • Applications, operating systems, web services, databases and enterprise software are programmed in C++.
   • Software engineers often use C++ as the language of choice for research by physicists and mathematicians - although I believe that languages such as Python are probably in greater use in these areas <- this is my belief.
2. Programming First C++ Application (HelloWorld):
   • Create Hello.cpp

#include <iostream>

int main() {
    std::cout << "Hello Martin, Welcome to the world of modern day C++" << std::endl;
    return 0;
}

Exercises

1. Predict code output.

#include <iostream>

int main() {
    int x = 8;
    int y = 6;
    std::cout << std::endl;
    std::cout << x - y << " " << x * y << " " << x + y;
    std::cout << std::endl;
    return 0;
}

Expected output - “2 48 14”

1. Actual output: 2 48 14 [success]
2. What is the error in this program?

include <iostream>

int main() {
    std::cout << "Hello Buggy World \n";
    return 0;
}

1. Corrected program - was missing the “#” for the include directive.

#include <iostream>

int main() {
    std::cout << "Hello Buggy World \n";
    return 0;
}

LESSON 2 - The Anatomy of a C++ Program:

Notes:

1. #include - Preprocessor Directive
   1. Runs prior to compilation
   2. Tells the Processor to insert the contents of a file at this point in the file
2. main() body of the program
   1. Execution of a C++ program always starts here
   2. It is convention that the function main() is declared with an int return value
   3. Some C++ applications may use a variant of the main() function like this:

       int main(int argc, char* argv[])
      

   4. In this instance argc would contain the number of arguments and argv[] would be an array of strings containing the actual arguments(?)
3. code that does the actual work in this application

    std::cout << "Hello Martin, Welcome to the world of modern day C++" << std::endl;
   

4. cout (“console-out” - pronounced see-out)
   1. cout is a stream defined by the standard std namespace
   2. In our application we are putting the string literal “Hello Martin, Welcome to the world of C++” into this stream by using stream insertion operator «
5. endl is used to end a line, akin to inserting a carriage return “\n”
6. In C++ functions need to return a value unless explicitly specified otherwise
   1. main is a function too, and always returns an integer value
   2. This value is returned back to the operating system (O/S)
   3. It is convention that a value of 0 would indicate success and that a value if -1 would indicate an error has occured
   4. The follwing would be an example of a function that returns no value

      void MyFunction() {
       ...doSomething...
      }
      

7. The Concept of Namespaces
   1. Namespaces are names give to parts of code that help in reducing the potential for naming conflict
   2. By using std::cout we are telling the compiler to use that one unique cout that is provided in the std namespace, for example

    #include <iostream>
   
    int main() {
        using namespace std;
   
        cout << "Hello Martin, Welcome to the world of modern day C++" << endl;
   
        return 0;
    }
   

8. Functions in C++
   1. Functions enable us to divide the content of the application into functional units that can be invoked in a sequence of our choosing.
   2. A function, when invoked, typically returns a value to the invoking/calling function.

Part Three: Sample C++ Applications

The goal of this part is to actually build out a few simple C++ applications to practice what I am learning on my C++ journey.

1. C++ Application: Tic-Tac-Toe [DONE]
2. C++ Application: Basic Inventory Management System
3. C++ Application: Personal Expense Tracker

As always, happy to hear your thoughts…

Modified By: Martin Thompson

Last Modified: September 9, 2024-12:00:00