Book Image

C++ Fundamentals

By : Antonio Mallia, Francesco Zoffoli
Book Image

C++ Fundamentals

By: Antonio Mallia, Francesco Zoffoli

Overview of this book

C++ Fundamentals begins by introducing you to the C++ compilation model and syntax. You will then study data types, variable declaration, scope, and control flow statements. With the help of this book, you'll be able to compile fully working C++ code and understand how variables, references, and pointers can be used to manipulate the state of the program. Next, you will explore functions and classes — the features that C++ offers to organize a program — and use them to solve more complex problems. You will also understand common pitfalls and modern best practices, especially the ones that diverge from the C++98 guidelines. As you advance through the chapters, you'll study the advantages of generic programming and write your own templates to make generic algorithms that work with any type. This C++ book will guide you in fully exploiting standard containers and algorithms, understanding how to pick the appropriate one for each problem. By the end of this book, you will not only be able to write efficient code but also be equipped to improve the readability, performance, and maintainability of your programs.
Table of Contents (9 chapters)
C++ Fundamentals
Preface

Function Declaration and Definition


A function declaration has the role of telling the compiler the name, the parameters, and the return type of a function. After a function has been declared, it can be used in the rest of the program.

The definition of the function specifies what operations a function performs.

A declaration is composed of the type of the returned value, followed by the name of the function and by a list of parameters inside a pair of parentheses. These last two components form the signature of the function. The syntax of a function declaration is as follows:

// Declaration: function without body
return_type function_name( parameter list );

If a function returns nothing, then the type void can be used, and if a function is not expecting any parameters the list can be empty.

Let's look at an example of a function declaration:

void doNothingForNow();

Here, we declared a function named doNothingForNow(), which takes no arguments and returns nothing. After this declaration, we can...