The Book of Bytes for Neophytes: A Guide to C++

206 Pages·2017·3.093 MB·English

by  A.S. Giedraitis

The Book of Bytes for Neophytes: A Guide to C++
by A.S. Giedraitis
Copyright © 2018 A.S. Giedraitis
FIRST EDITION: 2018
All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or
otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by the United States of
America copyright law, or for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.
ISBN: 978-0-692-93367-1 (eBook edition)
Published by Ziz Studios
[email protected]

Warning and Disclaimer
This book is designed to provide information about learning how to program using the C++
programming language. Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and as accurate as
possible, but no warranty or fitness is implied.
The information is provided on an as-is basis. The author and Ziz Studios shall have neither liability nor
responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages arising from the information
contained within this book.
Permissions
Permission to use screenshots of and references to the Code::Blocks compiler granted by Yiannis
Mandravellos of the Code::Blocks Team. Code::Blocks. Version 16.01. The Code::Blocks Team. 2016.
Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft. The Win32 API and its features are property
of Microsoft. All uses within the code and references of the API and its features in this book
are made in accordance with the GNU Lesser General Public License.
Permission to use information on frequencies of notes granted by B.H. Suits, Physics
Department of Michigan Technological University. Suits, B. H. "Frequencies for Equal-
tempered Scale, A4 = 440 Hz." Frequencies of Musical Notes, A4 = 440 Hz. Michigan
Technological University, 2015. Web. 2017.
Credits
Illustrations, cover and book design by A.S. Giedraitis
Editing by A.S. Giedraitis
Visit the author’s website at asgiedraitis.com
This book is dedicated to my mentors, family,
all those who believe in me, and you, the
reader. You have all driven me to help others
find what drives them in life. This work is a
token of my thanks. Thank you.
Table of Contents

Introduction
........................................................................................................... 1

Section 1: Libraries
...................................................................................... 13
Putting libraries in programs ........................................................................................ 15
Section Summary .......................................................................................................... 15

Section 2: Types, Objects, Variables & Operators
...... 16
Analogies ....................................................................................................................... 17
Additional Operators ...................................................................................................... 19
Varieties of types for Variables ..................................................................................... 20
When to Declare Objects ............................................................................................... 20
Section Summary .......................................................................................................... 21

Section 3: Input/Output
.......................................................................... 22
Outputting data .............................................................................................................. 23
Inputting data ................................................................................................................ 25
Inputting/Outputting Data to File .................................................................................. 25
Tutorial One .................................................................................................................... 27
Tutorial Two ................................................................................................................... 27
Challenges ..................................................................................................................... 28
Section Summary .......................................................................................................... 28
Section 4: Strings/Characters
......................................................... 29
Understanding Characters ............................................................................................ 30
Understanding Strings .................................................................................................. 30
Declaring Characters ..................................................................................................... 30
Declaring Strings ........................................................................................................... 31
String Indexing ............................................................................................................... 31
String Length ................................................................................................................. 32
Observing Single Characters in Strings ........................................................................ 33
Observing Substrings .................................................................................................... 33
Comparing Strings ......................................................................................................... 34
Tutorial One .................................................................................................................... 34
Tutorial Two ................................................................................................................... 35
Challenges ..................................................................................................................... 36
Section Summary .......................................................................................................... 36

Section 5: If-Then Statements
......................................................... 37
Analogies ....................................................................................................................... 38
Comparisons .................................................................................................................. 38
Multiple comparisons .................................................................................................... 40
Switch-Case-Break Comparisons .................................................................................. 40
Relating If-Then Statements ......................................................................................... 41
Tutorial One .................................................................................................................... 42
Tutorial Two ................................................................................................................... 44
Challenges ..................................................................................................................... 45
Section Summary .......................................................................................................... 45
Section 6: Math Functions
.................................................................. 46
Trigonometry Functions ................................................................................................ 47
Rounding Functions ...................................................................................................... 48
Power Functions ............................................................................................................ 48
Randomization Function ............................................................................................... 49
Tutorial One .................................................................................................................... 50
Tutorial Two ................................................................................................................... 51
Challenges ..................................................................................................................... 52
Section Summary .......................................................................................................... 52

Section 7: For-Loops & While-Loops
......................................... 53
Understanding loops ..................................................................................................... 54
For-Loops ....................................................................................................................... 54
While-Loops ................................................................................................................... 55
Nested For-Loops .......................................................................................................... 56
Nested While-Loops ....................................................................................................... 57
Tutorial One .................................................................................................................... 58
Tutorial Two ................................................................................................................... 59
Challenges ..................................................................................................................... 60
Section Summary .......................................................................................................... 60

Section 8: Arrays
............................................................................................ 61
Understanding Arrays .................................................................................................... 62
Types of Arrays .............................................................................................................. 64
Reading Arrays .............................................................................................................. 65
Writing to Arrays ............................................................................................................ 66
Tutorial One .................................................................................................................... 70
Tutorial Two ................................................................................................................... 71
Challenges ..................................................................................................................... 73
Section Summary .......................................................................................................... 73

Section 9: Functions
.................................................................................. 74
Understanding Functions .............................................................................................. 75
Different Kinds of Functions: ........................................................................................ 75
Declaring Functions....................................................................................................... 75
Using Functions ............................................................................................................. 76
Declaring Void Functions .............................................................................................. 77
Using Void Functions .................................................................................................... 77
Calling Functions ........................................................................................................... 78
Calling Void Functions .................................................................................................. 78
Tutorial One .................................................................................................................... 79
Tutorial Two ................................................................................................................... 81
Challenges ..................................................................................................................... 83
Section Summary .......................................................................................................... 83

Section 10: Graphics & Sound
......................................................... 84
Enabling Graphics Manipulation ................................................................................... 85
Color ............................................................................................................................... 86
Animation ....................................................................................................................... 86
Sound ............................................................................................................................. 88
Animation Tips ............................................................................................................... 88
Sound Tips ..................................................................................................................... 91
Tutorial One .................................................................................................................... 92
Tutorial Two ................................................................................................................... 97
Challenges ..................................................................................................................... 99
Section Summary .......................................................................................................... 99

Section 11: Keyboard Functionality
........................................ 100
Working with Keyboard Press Registering ................................................................. 101
Tutorial One .................................................................................................................. 102
Challenges ................................................................................................................... 108
Section Summary ........................................................................................................ 108

Conclusion
.......................................................................................................... 109

Index
.......................................................................................................................... 194

Troubleshooting
............................................................................................ 111

Challenge Help
................................................................................................ 132

References
.......................................................................................................... 180
Introduction

Introduction
o
r
t
n
I
2

Co ngratulations for making the first step into this book. By having taken the time
to open to this page, a vast new realm awaits you: the realm of C++
programming. This book is going to lead you step-by-step in learning to harness
the power of using the C++ programming language and how to develop a strong set of
foundations for working with it. If you, the reader, happen to be someone who had an
interest in C++ but only delved into it shortly and have not worked with it until now,
welcome back. If you happen to be a first-time learner of C++, it is a pleasure to help
set you on the right path to learning it.
This book is in no way meant to be a heap of text to cram into your mind; it is a
book specifically designed to walk you through, make things clear, answer questions,
solve problems, and most importantly, enjoy your time learning. That is the ultimate
goal for every page in this book: to allow you to enjoy yourself while learning C++. To
make this possible, this book has been divided up into different sections that build
upon each other. Every section will cover a topic involved in C++, give two tutorial
programs to try, and two challenge programs which can be attempted on your own but
still be understood with helpful answers found in the back of the book. Each section
also has its own part of a troubleshooting section in which some issues that may be
faced while making programs in the respective section are encountered.
It should be noted that the pages for answers to the challenges should serve as
examples of how the challenges could be done; you may have a completely different
way of doing it, and the challenge answers are for help and inspiration. It should also
be mentioned that the troubleshooting section will not always have the solution to the
error you encounter; the errors described have common solutions provided, but a good
programmer always problem solves to the best of their ability on their own before
looking for outside help.
Every section will also have troubleshooting pages to refer to at the back should
you ever get stuck with particular issues in the programs you will be making. Before
we get started together in this book, it is best to go over some terms which will make
you familiar with programming in C++. Here is a visual which will also be important to
understand with the terms: