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.

Dec 21: Chapter 7 has been updated! We have also renumbered the rest of the lessons. If you see any broken links/incorrect lesson numbers, please leave a comment on the lesson with the error. Thank you!

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Chapter 0		Introduction / Getting Started
0.1		Introduction to these tutorials
0.2		Introduction to programming languages
0.3		Introduction to C/C++
0.4		Introduction to C++ development
0.5		Introduction to the compiler, linker, and libraries
0.6		Installing an Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
0.7		Compiling your first program
0.8		A few common C++ problems
0.9		Configuring your compiler: Build configurations
0.10		Configuring your compiler: Compiler extensions
0.11		Configuring your compiler: Warning and error levels
0.12		Configuring your compiler: Choosing a language standard

Chapter 1		C++ Basics
1.1		Statements and the structure of a program
1.2		Comments
1.3		Introduction to variables
1.4		Variable assignment and initialization
1.5		Introduction to iostream: cout, cin, and endl
1.6		Uninitialized variables and undefined behavior
1.7		Keywords and naming identifiers
1.8	Moved	Whitespace and basic formatting
1.9		Introduction to literals and operators
1.10		Introduction to expressions
1.11		Developing your first program
1.x		Chapter 1 summary and quiz

Chapter 2		C++ Basics: Functions and Files
2.1		Introduction to functions
2.2		Function return values
2.3		Introduction to function parameters and arguments
2.4		Introduction to local scope
2.5		Why functions are useful, and how to use them effectively
2.6		Forward declarations and definitions
2.7		Programs with multiple code files
2.8		Naming collisions and an introduction to namespaces
2.9		Introduction to the preprocessor
2.10		Header files
2.11		Header guards
2.12		How to design your first programs
2.x		Chapter 2 summary and quiz

Chapter 3		Debugging C++ Programs
3.1		Syntax and semantic errors
3.2		The debugging process
3.3		A strategy for debugging
3.4		Basic debugging tactics
3.5		More debugging tactics
3.6		Using an integrated debugger: Stepping
3.7		Using an integrated debugger: Running and breakpoints
3.8		Using an integrated debugger: Watching variables
3.9		Using an integrated debugger: The call stack
3.10		Finding issues before they become problems
3.x		Chapter 3 summary and quiz

Chapter 4		Fundamental Data Types
4.1		Introduction to fundamental data types
4.2		Void
4.3		Object sizes and the sizeof operator
4.4		Signed integers
4.5		Unsigned integers, and why to avoid them
4.6		Fixed-width integers and size_t
4.7		Introduction to scientific notation
4.8		Floating point numbers
4.9		Boolean values
4.10		Introduction to if statements
4.11		Chars
4.12		Literals
4.13		Const, constexpr, and symbolic constants
4.x		Chapter 4 summary and quiz

Chapter 5		Operators
5.1		Operator precedence and associativity
5.2		Arithmetic operators
5.3		Modulus and Exponentiation
5.4		Increment/decrement operators, and side effects
5.5		Comma and conditional operators
5.6		Relational operators and floating point comparisons
5.7		Logical operators
5.x		Chapter 5 summary and quiz

Chapter O		Bit Manipulation (optional chapter)
O.1		Bit flags and bit manipulation via std::bitset
O.2		Bitwise operators
O.3		Bit manipulation with bitwise operators and bit masks
O.4		Converting between binary and decimal

Chapter 6		Object Scope and Conversions
6.1		Compound statements (blocks)
6.2		User-defined namespaces
6.3		Local variables
6.4		Introduction to global variables
6.5		Variable shadowing (name hiding)
6.6		Internal linkage
6.7		External linkage
6.8		Global constants and inline variables
6.9		Why global variables are evil
6.10		Static local variables
6.11		Scope, duration, and linkage summary
6.12		Using statements
6.13		Typedefs and type aliases
6.14		The auto keyword
6.15		Implicit type conversion (coercion)
6.16		Explicit type conversion (casting) and static_cast
6.17		Unnamed and inline namespaces
6.x		Chapter 6 summary and quiz

Dec 21: Chapter 7 has been updated!

Chapter 7		Control Flow and Error Handling
7.1		Control flow introduction
7.2		If statements and blocks
7.3		Common if statement problems
7.4		Switch statement basics
7.5		Switch fallthrough and scoping
7.6		Goto statements
7.7		Intro to loops and while statements
7.8		Do while statements
7.9		For statements
7.10		Break and continue
7.11		Halts (exiting your program early)
7.12		Introduction to testing your code
7.13		Code coverage
7.14		Common semantic errors in C++
7.15		Detecting and handling errors
7.16		std::cin and handling invalid input
7.17		Assert and static_assert
7.x		Chapter 7 summary and quiz

Chapter 8		Compound Types (under construction)
8.1		An introduction to std::string
8.2		Using a language reference
8.3		Enumerated types
8.4		Enum classes
8.5		Structs
8.6		Random number generation
8.x		Chapter 8 summary and quiz

Chapter 9		Arrays, Strings, Pointers, and References
9.1		Arrays (Part I)
9.2		Arrays (Part II)
9.3		Arrays and loops
9.4		Sorting an array using selection sort
9.5		Multidimensional Arrays
9.6		C-style strings
9.7		An introduction to std::string_view
9.8		Introduction to pointers
9.9		Null pointers
9.10		Pointers and arrays
9.11		Pointer arithmetic and array indexing
9.12		C-style string symbolic constants
9.13		Dynamic memory allocation with new and delete
9.14		Dynamically allocating arrays
9.15		Pointers and const
9.16		Reference variables
9.17		References and const
9.18		Member selection with pointers and references
9.19		For-each loops
9.20		Void pointers
9.21		Pointers to pointers and dynamic multidimensional arrays
9.22		An introduction to std::array
9.23		An introduction to std::vector
9.24		Introduction to iterators
9.25		Introduction to standard library algorithms
9.x		Chapter 9 comprehensive quiz

Chapter 10		Functions
10.1		Function parameters and arguments
10.2		Passing arguments by value
10.3		Passing arguments by reference
10.4		Passing arguments by address
10.5		Returning values by value, reference, and address
10.6		Inline functions
10.7		Function overloading
10.8		Default arguments
10.9		Function Pointers
10.10		The stack and the heap
10.11		std::vector capacity and stack behavior
10.12		Recursion
10.13		Command line arguments
10.14		Ellipsis (and why to avoid them)
10.15		Introduction to lambdas (anonymous functions)
10.16		Lambda captures
10.x		Chapter 10 comprehensive quiz

Chapter 11		Basic object-oriented programming
11.1		Welcome to object-oriented programming
11.2		Classes and class members
11.3		Public vs private access specifiers
11.4		Access functions and encapsulation
11.5		Constructors
11.6		Constructor member initializer lists
11.7		Non-static member initialization
11.8		Overlapping and delegating constructors
11.9		Destructors
11.10		The hidden “this” pointer
11.11		Class code and header files
11.12		Const class objects and member functions
11.13		Static member variables
11.14		Static member functions
11.15		Friend functions and classes
11.16		Anonymous objects
11.17		Nested types in classes
11.18		Timing your code
11.x		Chapter 11 comprehensive quiz

Chapter 12		Reserved for future expansion

Chapter 13		Operator overloading
13.1		Introduction to operator overloading
13.2		Overloading the arithmetic operators using friend functions
13.3		Overloading operators using normal functions
13.4		Overloading the I/O operators
13.5		Overloading operators using member functions
13.6		Overloading unary operators +, -, and !
13.7		Overloading the comparison operators
13.8		Overloading the increment and decrement operators
13.9		Overloading the subscript operator
13.10		Overloading the parenthesis operator
13.11		Overloading typecasts
13.12		The copy constructor
13.13		Copy initialization
13.14		Converting constructors, explicit, and delete
13.15		Overloading the assignment operator
13.16		Shallow vs. deep copying
13.x		Chapter 13 comprehensive quiz

Chapter 14		Reserved for future expansion

Chapter 15		Reserved for future expansion

Chapter 16		An introduction to object relationships
16.1		Object relationships
16.2		Composition
16.3		Aggregation
16.4		Association
16.5		Dependencies
16.6		Container classes
16.7		std::initializer_list
16.x		Chapter 16 comprehensive quiz

Chapter 17		Inheritance
17.1		Introduction to inheritance
17.2		Basic inheritance in C++
17.3		Order of construction of derived classes
17.4		Constructors and initialization of derived classes
17.5		Inheritance and access specifiers
17.6		Adding new functionality to a derived class
17.7		Calling inherited functions and overriding behavior
17.8		Hiding inherited functionality
17.9		Multiple inheritance
17.x		Chapter 17 comprehensive quiz

Chapter 18		Virtual Functions
18.1		Pointers and references to the base class of derived objects
18.2		Virtual functions and polymorphism
18.3		The override and final specifiers, and covariant return types
18.4		Virtual destructors, virtual assignment, and overriding virtualization
18.5		Early binding and late binding
18.6		The virtual table
18.7		Pure virtual functions, abstract base classes, and interface classes
18.8		Virtual base classes
18.9		Object slicing
18.10		Dynamic casting
18.11		Printing inherited classes using operator<<
18.x		Chapter 18 comprehensive quiz

Chapter 19		Templates
19.1		Function templates
19.2		Function template instances
19.3		Template classes
19.4		Template non-type parameters
19.5		Function template specialization
19.6		Class template specialization
19.7		Partial template specialization
19.8		Partial template specialization for pointers
19.x		Chapter 19 comprehensive quiz

Chapter 20		Exceptions
20.1		The need for exceptions
20.2		Basic exception handling
20.3		Exceptions, functions, and stack unwinding
20.4		Uncaught exceptions and catch-all handlers
20.5		Exceptions, classes, and inheritance
20.6		Rethrowing exceptions
20.7		Function try blocks
20.8		Exception dangers and downsides
20.9		Exception specifications and noexcept
20.x		Chapter 20 comprehensive quiz

Chapter M		Move semantics and smart pointers
M.1		Intro to smart pointers and move semantics
M.2		R-value references
M.3		Move constructors and move assignment
M.4		std::move
M.5		std::move_if_noexcept
M.6		std::unique_ptr
M.7		std::shared_ptr
M.8		Circular dependency issues with std::shared_ptr, and std::weak_ptr
M.x		Chapter M comprehensive review

Chapter 21		The Standard Template Library
21.1		The Standard Library
21.2		STL containers overview
21.3		STL iterators overview
21.4		STL algorithms overview

Chapter 22		std::string
22.1		std::string and std::wstring
22.2		std::string construction and destruction
22.3		std::string length and capacity
22.4		std::string character access and conversion to C-style arrays
22.5		std::string assignment and swapping
22.6		std::string appending
22.7		std::string inserting

Chapter 23		Input and output (I/O)
23.1		Input and output (I/O) streams
23.2		Input with istream
23.3		Output with ostream and ios
23.4		Stream classes for strings
23.5		Stream states and input validation
23.6		Basic file I/O
23.7		Random file I/O

Appendix A		Miscellaneous Subjects
A.1		Static and dynamic libraries
A.2		Using libraries with Visual Studio
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		Introduction to C++17

Appendix C		The end
C.1		The end?

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