The C++ Tutorial

LearnCpp.com is a free website devoted to teaching you how to program in C++. Whether you’ve had any prior programming experience or not, the tutorials on this site will walk you through all the steps to write, compile, and debug your C++ programs, all with plenty of examples.

Becoming an expert won’t happen overnight, but with a little patience, you’ll get there. And LearnCpp.com will show you the way.

Having trouble remembering where you saw something? Not sure where to find something? Use our site index to find what you’re looking for!

Chapter 0		Introduction / Getting Started
0.1	Updated	Introduction to these tutorials
0.2	Updated	Introduction to programming languages
0.3	Updated	Introduction to C/C++
0.4	Updated	Introduction to development
0.5	Updated	Introduction to the compiler, linker, and libraries
0.6	Updated	Installing an Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
0.7	Updated	Compiling your first program
0.8	Updated	A few common C++ problems
0.9	Updated	Configuring your compiler: build configurations

Chapter 1		C++ Basics
1.1		Structure of a program
1.2		Comments
1.3		A first look at variables, initialization, and assignment
1.3a		A first look at cout, cin, and endl
1.4		A first look at functions and return values
1.4a		A first look at function parameters and arguments
1.4b		Why functions are useful, and how to use them effectively
1.4c		Keywords and naming identifiers
1.4d		A first look at local scope
1.5		A first look at operators
1.6		Whitespace and basic formatting
1.7		Forward declarations and definitions
1.8		Programs with multiple files
1.8a		Naming conflicts and the std namespace
1.9		Header files
1.10		A first look at the preprocessor
1.10a		Header guards
1.10b		How to design your first programs
1.11		Debugging your program (stepping and breakpoints)
1.11a		Debugging your program (watching variables and the call stack)
1.12		Chapter 1 comprehensive quiz

Chapter 2		Variables and Fundamental Data Types
2.1		Fundamental variable definition, initialization, and assignment
2.2		Void
2.3		Variable sizes and the sizeof operator
2.4		Integers
2.4a		Fixed-width integers
2.5		Floating point numbers
2.6		Boolean values and an introduction to if statements
2.7		Chars
2.8		Literals
2.9		Const, constexpr, and symbolic constants
2.10		Chapter 2 comprehensive quiz

Chapter 3		Operators
3.1		Operator precedence and associativity
3.2		Arithmetic operators
3.3		Increment/decrement operators, and side effects
3.4		Sizeof, comma, and conditional operators
3.5		Relational operators (comparisons)
3.6		Logical operators
3.7		Converting between binary and decimal
3.8		Bitwise operators
3.8a		Bit flags and bit masks
3.x		Chapter 3 comprehensive quiz

Chapter 4		Variable Scope and More Types
4.1		Blocks (compound statements)
4.1a		Local variables, scope, and duration
4.2		Global variables and linkage
4.2a		Why global variables are evil
4.3		Static duration variables
4.3a		Scope, duration, and linkage summary
4.3b		Namespaces
4.3c		Using statements
4.4		Implicit type conversion (coercion)
4.4a		Explicit type conversion (casting)
4.4b		An introduction to std::string
4.5		Enumerated types
4.5a		Enum classes
4.6		Typedefs and type aliases
4.7		Structs
4.8		The auto keyword
4.x		Chapter 4 comprehensive quiz

Chapter 5		Control Flow
5.1		Control flow introduction
5.2		If statements
5.3		Switch statements
5.4		Goto statements
5.5		While statements
5.6		Do while statements
5.7		For statements
5.8		Break and continue
5.9		Random number generation
5.10		std::cin, extraction, and dealing with invalid text input
5.11		Introduction to testing your code
5.x		Chapter 5 comprehensive quiz

Chapter 6		Arrays, Strings, Pointers, and References
6.1		Arrays (Part I)
6.2		Arrays (Part II)
6.3		Arrays and loops
6.4		Sorting an array using selection sort
6.5		Multidimensional arrays
6.6		C-style strings
6.7		Introduction to pointers
6.7a		Null pointers
6.8		Pointers and arrays
6.8a		Pointer arithmetic and array indexing
6.8b		C-style string symbolic constants
6.9		Dynamic memory allocation with new and delete
6.9a		Dynamically allocating arrays
6.10		Pointers and const
6.11		Reference variables
6.11a		References and const
6.12		Member selection with pointers and references
6.12a		For each loops
6.13		Void pointers
6.14		Pointers to pointers and dynamic multidimensional arrays
6.15		An introduction to std::array
6.16		An introduction to std::vector
6.x		Chapter 6 comprehensive quiz

Chapter 7		Functions
7.1		Function parameters and arguments
7.2		Passing arguments by value
7.3		Passing arguments by reference
7.4		Passing arguments by address
7.4a		Returning values by value, reference, and address
7.5		Inline functions
7.6		Function overloading
7.7		Default parameters
7.8		Function Pointers
7.9		The stack and the heap
7.10		std::vector capacity and stack behavior
7.11		Recursion
7.12		Handling errors, cerr and exit
7.12a		Assert and static_assert
7.13		Command line arguments
7.14		Ellipsis (and why to avoid them)
7.x		Chapter 7 comprehensive quiz

Chapter 8		Basic object-oriented programming
8.1		Welcome to object-oriented programming
8.2		Classes and class members
8.3		Public vs private access specifiers
8.4		Access functions and encapsulation
8.5		Constructors
8.5a		Constructor member initializer lists
8.5b		Non-static member initialization
8.6		Overlapping and delegating constructors
8.7		Destructors
8.8		The hidden “this” pointer
8.9		Class code and header files
8.10		Const class objects and member functions
8.11		Static member variables
8.12		Static member functions
8.13		Friend functions and classes
8.14		Anonymous objects
8.15		Nested types in classes
8.16		Timing your code
8.x		Chapter 8 comprehensive quiz

Chapter 9		Operator overloading
9.1		Introduction to operator overloading
9.2		Overloading the arithmetic operators using friend functions
9.2a		Overloading operators using normal functions
9.3		Overloading the I/O operators
9.4		Overloading operators using member functions
9.5		Overloading unary operators +, -, and !
9.6		Overloading the comparison operators
9.7		Overloading the increment and decrement operators
9.8		Overloading the subscript operator
9.9		Overloading the parenthesis operator
9.10		Overloading typecasts
9.11		The copy constructor
9.12		Copy initialization
9.13		Converting constructors, explicit, and delete
9.14		Overloading the assignment operator
9.15		Shallow vs. deep copying
9.x		Chapter 9 comprehensive quiz

Chapter 10		An introduction to object relationships
10.1		Object relationships
10.2		Composition
10.3		Aggregation
10.4		Association
10.5		Dependencies
10.6		Container classes
10.7		std::initializer_list
10.x		Chapter 10 comprehensive quiz

Chapter 11		Inheritance
11.1		Introduction to inheritance
11.2		Basic inheritance in C++
11.3		Order of construction of derived classes
11.4		Constructors and initialization of derived classes
11.5		Inheritance and access specifiers
11.6		Adding new functionality to a derived class
11.6a		Calling inherited functions and overriding behavior
11.6b		Hiding inherited functionality
11.7		Multiple inheritance
11.x		Chapter 11 comprehensive quiz

Chapter 12		Virtual Functions
12.1		Pointers and references to the base class of derived objects
12.2		Virtual functions and polymorphism
12.2a		The override and final specifiers, and covariant return types
12.3		Virtual destructors, virtual assignment, and overriding virtualization
12.4		Early binding and late binding
12.5		The virtual table
12.6		Pure virtual functions, abstract base classes, and interface classes
12.7		Virtual base classes
12.8		Object slicing
12.9		Dynamic casting
12.10		Printing inherited classes using operator<<
12.x		Chapter 12 comprehensive quiz

Chapter 13		Templates
13.1		Function templates
13.2		Function template instances
13.3		Template classes
13.4		Template non-type parameters
13.5		Function template specialization
13.6		Class template specialization
13.7		Partial template specialization
13.8		Partial template specialization for pointers
13.x		Chapter 13 comprehensive quiz

Chapter 14		Exceptions
14.1		The need for exceptions
14.2		Basic exception handling
14.3		Exceptions, functions, and stack unwinding
14.4		Uncaught exceptions, catch-all handlers, and exception specifiers
14.5		Exceptions, classes, and inheritance
14.6		Rethrowing exceptions
14.7		Function try blocks
14.8		Exception dangers and downsides
14.x		Chapter 14 comprehensive quiz

Chapter 15		Move semantics and smart pointers
15.1		Intro to smart pointers and move semantics
15.2		R-value references
15.3		Move constructors and move assignment
15.4		std::move
15.5		std::unique_ptr
15.6		std::shared_ptr
15.7		Circular dependency issues with std::shared_ptr, and std::weak_ptr
15.x		Chapter 15 comprehensive review

Chapter 16		The Standard Template Library
16.1		The Standard Template Library (STL)
16.2		STL containers overview
16.3		STL iterators overview
16.4		STL algorithms overview

Chapter 17		std::string
17.1		std::string and std::wstring
17.2		std::string construction and destruction
17.3		std::string length and capacity
17.4		std::string character access and conversion to C-style arrays
17.5		std::string assignment and swapping
17.6		std::string appending
17.7		std::string inserting

Chapter 18		Input and output (I/O)
18.1		Input and output (I/O) streams
18.2		Input with istream
18.3		Output with ostream and ios
18.4		Stream classes for strings
18.5		Stream states and input validation
18.6		Basic file I/O
18.7		Random file I/O

Appendix A		Miscellaneous Subjects
A.1		Static and dynamic libraries
A.2		Using libraries with Visual Studio Express 2005
A.3		Using libraries with Code::Blocks

Appendix B		C++ Updates
B.1		Introduction to C++11
B.2		Introduction to C++14
B.3	New Mar 31	Introduction to C++17

Appendix C		The end
C.1	New Feb 16	The end?

Search

The C++ Tutorial

Admin