PROGRAMMING

FUNDAMENTALS
Dr. Sheikh Faisal Rashid
[email protected],uet.edu.pk
Department of Computer Science and
Engineering UET Lahore
CONSOLE OUTPUT
• Take a closer look at std::cout
• Look at the behavior of <<
• Observe how << and arithmetic operations are
similar
• Other output streams:
• Standard error stream
• Standard logging stream
Console output
• Now that we have seen binary arithmetic operators, let us
revisit
std::cout << "Hello world!";
std::cout << std::endl;

• The << is know as the left-shift binary operator

• Its operands are primitive data types (e.g., unsigned int)
• We will see more about this operator later

• If, however, the left-hand operand is std::cout,

• The compiler will ensure that the appropriate routines are executed
to print the right-hand operand to the console
Console output
• Each of these result in different routines being executed:
std::cout << 42;
std::cout << 2.718281828459045;
std::cout << 'a';
std::cout << "Hello world!";
std::cout << true;
std::cout << std::endl;
Output:
422.718281aHello world!1
Console output
• When you execute
std::cout << (42 + 2.718281828459045);

the compiler sees the sum of an integer and a floating-

point number
• The compiler ensures 42 is cast as a floating-point number
• The compiler then knows the result will be a floating-point number
• Regardless of the actual result, the routines for printing a floating-
point number are called
Console output
• Now, with arithmetic operations, if you have
13 + 14 + 15;
the compiler sees this as:
(13 + 14) + 15;

• First, the result of 13 + 14 is calculated: 27

• Thus, we are left with
27 + 15;

• Next, the result of 27 + 15 is calculated: 42

• Here, the result is sent to the routines for printing an integer:

std::cout << (13 + 14 + 15);
Console output
• Question: What does
std::cout << 42;
return?
• It returns a reference to std::cout
• More on this later when we get to object-oriented programming

• Recall that the compiler interprets 3+4+5+6 as

((3+4)+5)+6
• What happens if we write the following?
std::cout << 3 << 4 << 5 << 6;
Console output
• The compiler sees
2 + 3 + 4 + 5;
and interprets it as
((2 + 3) + 4) + 5;

• Similarly, the compiler sees

std::cout << 3 << 4 << 5;
and interprets it as
((std::cout << 3) << 4) << 5;
Console output
• We start with:
((std::cout << 3) << 4) << 5;

• Here, the appropriate routines for printing the integer 3 are

called, and a reference to std::cout is returned:
( std::cout << 4) << 5;

• Next, the appropriate routines for printing the integer 4 are

called, and a reference to std::cout is returned:
std::cout << 5;
• Again, the appropriate routines for printing the integer 5 are
called
• The final output is 345
Console output
• The consequence is that we can, instead, write:
std::cout << "Hello world!" << std::endl;

• Alternatively, we can also give warnings that provide

feedback:
std::cout << "Warning, expecting an
integer "
"greater than 0, but got"
<< -3 << std::endl;
Console output
• It is common to use one line of output per statement1:

std::cout << "A Elbereth Gilthoniel," << std::endl;

std::cout << "silivren penna miriel" << std::endl;
std::cout << "o menel aglar elenath!" << std::endl;
std::cout << "Na-chaered palan-diriel" << std::endl;
std::cout << "o galadhremmin ennorath," << std::endl;
std::cout << "Fanuilos, le linnathon" << std::endl;
std::cout << "nef aear, si nef aearon!" << std::endl;
Output:
A Elbereth Gilthoniel,
silivren penna miriel
o menel aglar elenath!
Na-chaered palan-diriel
o galadhremmin ennorath,
Fanuilos, le linnathon
1 J.R.R. Tolkien nef aear, si nef aearon!
Console output
• If your constructed output must span multiple lines,
• both of these produce the same output
• one is easier for a programmer to read

std::cout << "The value " << 3.23 << " is greater than "
<< 1.53 << "." << std::endl;

std::cout << "The value " << 3.23

<< " is greater than " << 1.53
<< "." << std::endl;
Other output streams
• In addition to std::cout, there are two other output streams:
• Standard error stream:
std::cerr << "Division by zero..." <<
std::endl;
• Standard logging stream:
std::clog << "Current size:" << 3 <<
std::endl;

• By default, all streams go to the output console

• It is possible to redirect each stream to different outputs, e.g.,
• All standard output goes to the console
• All logging output goes to a log file
• All error output goes to an error file
Summary
• Following this lesson, you now:
• Understand that << is a binary operator and std::cout is a
stream object
• Know the result of std::cout << whatever is a reference to
itself, namely std::cout
• Know that we can and why we can string outputs to std::cout
together
• Are aware of standard error streams and standard logging streams
References
[1] cplusplus.com
http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/basic_io/
http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/iostream/cout/
[2] Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Input/output_(C++)