C++ Data Types

C++ Data Types: In this tutorial, we will find out about fundamental data types, for example, int, float, char, and so forth in C++ programming with the help of examples.

In C++, data types are declarations for variables. This decides the sort and size of data related to variables. For instance,

int age = 13;

Here, age is a variable of type int. Meaning, the variable can only store integers of either 2 or 4 bytes.

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C++ Fundamental Data Types

The table below shows the fundamental data types, their meaning, and their sizes (in bytes):

Data Type	Meaning	Size (in Bytes)
int	Integer	2 or 4
float	Floating-point	4
double	Double Floating-point	8
char	Character	1
wchar_t	Wide Character	2
bool	Boolean	1
void	Empty	0

Now, let us discuss these fundamental data types in more detail.

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1. C++ int

The int keyword is used to indicate integers.
Its size is usually 4 bytes. Meaning, it can store values from -2147483648 to 2147483647.
For example,

int salary = 85000;

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2. C++ float and double

float and double are used to store floating-point numbers (decimals and exponentials).
The size of float is 4 bytes and the size of double is 8 bytes. Hence, double has two times the precision of float. To learn more, visit C++ float and double.
For example,

float area = 64.74;
double volume = 134.64534;

As referenced over, these two data types are likewise used for exponentials. For instance,

double distance = 45E12    // 45E12 is equal to 45*10^12

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3. C++ char

Keyword char is used for characters.
Its size is 1 byte.
Characters in C++ are enclosed inside single quotes ‘ ‘.
For example,

char test = 'h';

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4. C++ wchar_t

Wide character wchar_t is similar to the char data type, except its size is 2 bytes instead of 1.
It is used to represent characters that require more memory to represent them than a single char.
For example,

wchar_t test = L'ם'  // storing Hebrew character;

Notice the letter L before the quotation marks.

Note: There are also two other fixed-size character types char16_t and char32_t introduced in C++11.

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5. C++ bool

The bool data type has one of two potential values: true or false.

Booleans are used in contingent proclamations and loops (which we will learn in later chapters).

For instance,

bool cond = false;

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6. C++ void

The void catchphrase shows a nonappearance of data. It signifies “nothing” or “no value”.

We will use void when we find out about functions and pointers.

Note: We can’t declare variables of the void type.

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C++ Type Modifiers

We can further modify some of the fundamental data types by using type modifiers. There are 4 sort modifiers in C++. They are:

1. signed
2. unsigned
3. short
4. long

We can modify the following data types with the above modifiers:

int
double
char

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C++ Modified Data Types List

Data Type	Size (in Bytes)	Meaning
signed int	4	used for integers (equivalent to int)
unsigned int	4	can only store positive integers
short	2	used for small integers (range -32768 to 32767)
long	at least 4	used for large integers (equivalent to long int)
unsigned long	4	used for large positive integers or 0 (equivalent to unsigned long int)
long long	8	used for very large integers (equivalent to long long int).
unsigned long long	8	used for very large positive integers or 0 (equivalent to unsigned long long int)
long double	8	used for large floating-point numbers
signed char	1	used for characters (guaranteed range -127 to 127)
unsigned char	1	used for characters (range 0 to 255)

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Let’s see a few examples.

long b = 4523232;
long int c = 2345342;
long double d = 233434.56343;
short d = 3434233; // Error! out of range
unsigned int a = -5;    // Error! can only store positive numbers or 0

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Derived Data Types

Data types that are derived from essential data types are inferred types. For instance: arrays, pointers, work types, structures, and so forth.

We will learn about these derived data types in later tutorials.

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Please feel free to give your comment if you face any difficulty here.

C++ Introduction