C++

Here’s a comprehensive guide to C++ programming, from fundamentals to advanced concepts, with examples along the way. This will cover syntax, memory management, OOP, templates, STL, and modern C++ (C++11–C++23).
Author

Benedict Thekkel

🧠 Overview of C++

  • General-purpose, compiled, statically typed language.
  • Supports procedural, object-oriented, generic, and functional programming.
  • Known for performance, fine-grained memory control, and close-to-hardware programming.

🧱 1. Basic Syntax

#include <iostream>

int main() {
    std::cout << "Hello, World!" << std::endl;
    return 0;
}

Key Concepts

Concept Description Example
#include Preprocessor directive #include <iostream>
main() Entry point int main() { ... }
std::cout Output stream std::cout << "Hi";
return Exit code return 0;

🔢 2. Variables, Data Types, and Operators

int age = 23;
float price = 19.99;
char grade = 'A';
bool isActive = true;

Operators

  • Arithmetic: + - * / %
  • Logical: && || !
  • Comparison: == != < > <= >=
  • Assignment: = += -=

🧭 3. Control Flow

int num = 10;
if (num > 5) {
    std::cout << "Big number\n";
} else {
    std::cout << "Small number\n";
}

Loops

// For loop
for (int i = 0; i < 5; ++i)
    std::cout << i << " ";

// While loop
int i = 0;
while (i < 5)
    std::cout << i++ << " ";

📦 4. Functions

int add(int a, int b) {
    return a + b;
}

Overloading

int multiply(int a, int b) { return a * b; }
double multiply(double a, double b) { return a * b; }

🧰 5. Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)

Classes & Objects

class Car {
public:
    string model;
    void drive() { std::cout << "Driving " << model << std::endl; }
};

int main() {
    Car c;
    c.model = "Tesla";
    c.drive();
}

Encapsulation, Inheritance, Polymorphism

class Animal {
public:
    virtual void speak() { std::cout << "Animal sound\n"; }
};

class Dog : public Animal {
public:
    void speak() override { std::cout << "Woof!\n"; }
};

int main() {
    Animal* a = new Dog();
    a->speak();  // Woof!
}

🎯 6. Memory Management

Pointers

int a = 10;
int* ptr = &a;
std::cout << *ptr; // dereference

new and delete

int* arr = new int[10];
delete[] arr;

🏗️ 7. Templates (Generic Programming)

template <typename T>
T max(T a, T b) {
    return (a > b) ? a : b;
}

📚 8. Standard Template Library (STL)

Includes:

  • Containers: vector, map, set, list, etc.
  • Algorithms: sort, find, accumulate
  • Iterators and Functionals

Vector Example

#include <vector>
#include <algorithm>

std::vector<int> v = {5, 2, 9, 1};
std::sort(v.begin(), v.end());

⚙️ 9. Modern C++ Features

✅ C++11

  • auto, nullptr, range-based for, lambdas
auto x = 42;
for (auto n : v) std::cout << n;

✅ C++14/17

  • Structured bindings
std::pair<int, int> p = {1, 2};
auto [a, b] = p;

✅ C++20/23

  • Concepts
  • Coroutines
  • std::ranges
  • std::format
#include <format>
std::string s = std::format("The answer is {}", 42);

🧪 10. Compile and Run

g++ main.cpp -o main
./main

🧭 Summary Table

Feature C++98/03 C++11 C++14 C++17 C++20 C++23
auto ❌ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
Lambda ❌ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
std::shared_ptr ❌ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
Ranges ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ✅ ✅
Coroutines ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ✅ ✅

🚀 Projects to Learn C++

  1. Tic Tac Toe Game
  2. Banking System Simulation
  3. Simple Web Server with Sockets
  4. Memory Allocator
  5. Tiny STL clone
  6. Embedded system sensor logger (e.g., with Arduino)
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