Introduction to C++ Programming

• C++ is a high-level, general-purpose programming language.
• It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup in the early 1980s at Bell Labs.
• C++ is an extension of the C programming language.
• It incorporates object-oriented programming (OOP) features.

Key Features of C++

• Object-Oriented Programming: Supports classes, objects, inheritance, polymorphism, and encapsulation.
• Memory Management: Provides manual memory management capabilities through pointers and dynamic memory allocation.
• Standard Template Library (STL): Includes a rich set of generic classes and functions for common tasks.
• High Performance: Allows low-level memory access, making it suitable for performance-critical applications.
• Portability: C++ code can be compiled and run on various platforms.
• Large Community and Ecosystem: Benefits from extensive libraries, frameworks, and community support.

Basic Syntax

• Comments: Single-line comments start with //, and multi-line comments are enclosed in /* and */.
• Header Files: Included using the #include directive, providing access to libraries and functions.
• Main Function: The entry point of a C++ program is the int main() function.
• Input/Output: Uses std::cin for input and std::cout for output, defined in the <iostream> header.
• Variables: Declared with a specific data type (e.g., int, float, char, bool).
• Operators: Supports a wide range of operators, including arithmetic, logical, and bitwise operators.

Core Concepts

• Variables and Data Types: C++ supports fundamental data types like int, float, double, char, and bool.
• Operators: Arithmetic operators (+, -, *, /), relational operators (==, !=, >, <), logical operators (&&, ||, !).
• Control Structures: Includes if statements, switch statements, for loops, while loops, and do-while loops.
• Functions: Blocks of code that perform a specific task. Functions can accept arguments and return values.
• Arrays: Collections of elements of the same data type, accessed using indices.
• Pointers: Variables that store memory addresses. Used for dynamic memory allocation and passing variables by reference.

Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)

• Classes and Objects: A class is a blueprint for creating objects. An object is an instance of a class.
• Encapsulation: Bundling data (attributes) and methods (functions) that operate on the data within a class.
• Inheritance: Allows a class (derived class) to inherit properties and behaviors from another class (base class).
• Polymorphism: Enables objects of different classes to be treated as objects of a common type. Achieved through function overriding and virtual functions.

Memory Management

• Dynamic Memory Allocation: Using new to allocate memory at runtime and delete to release it.
• Memory Leaks: Occur when dynamically allocated memory is not properly deallocated, leading to memory wastage.

Standard Template Library (STL)

• Containers: Data structures that store collections of objects, such as vector, list, deque, set, and map.
• Algorithms: Functions that perform common operations on containers, such as sorting, searching, and transforming.
• Iterators: Objects that allow traversal of container elements, providing a way to access and manipulate data.

Input/Output Streams

• iostream Library: Provides classes for input and output operations.
• cin: Standard input stream, used to read data from the keyboard.
• cout: Standard output stream, used to write data to the console.
• cerr: Standard error stream, used to output error messages.
• clog: Standard logging stream, used for logging information.
• File Streams: fstream library provides classes for reading from and writing to files (ifstream for input, ofstream for output, fstream for both).

Pointers

• Pointer Declaration: Declared using the * operator (e.g., int *ptr;).
• Address-of Operator: The & operator returns the memory address of a variable.
• Dereference Operator: The * operator is used to access the value stored at the memory address pointed to by a pointer.
• Pointer Arithmetic: Performing arithmetic operations on pointers to navigate memory locations.
• Null Pointers: Pointers that do not point to any valid memory location (nullptr in C++11 and later).

Functions

• Function Declaration: Specifies the function's name, return type, and parameters
• Function Definition: Provides the actual code that the function executes.
• Function Call: Invokes the function to execute its code.
• Return Values: Functions can return values using the return statement. The return type must match the declared return type.
• Function Arguments: Values passed to the function when it is called.
• Pass by Value: The function receives a copy of the argument's value.
• Pass by Reference: The function receives a reference to the argument, allowing it to modify the original value.
• Function Overloading: Defining multiple functions with the same name but different parameters.
• Inline Functions: Functions that are expanded inline at the point of call, potentially improving performance.

Classes and Objects

• Class Definition: Defines the structure and behavior of objects.
• Member Variables (Attributes): Variables that store the state of an object.
• Member Functions (Methods): Functions that define the behavior of an object.
• Access Modifiers: Control the visibility and accessibility of class members (private, protected, public).
• Constructors: Special member functions that initialize objects when they are created.
• Destructors: Special member functions that are called when an object is destroyed.
• this Pointer: A pointer that points to the current object instance.
• Static Members: Variables and functions that belong to the class itself rather than to individual objects.

Inheritance

• Base Class (Parent Class): The class being inherited from.
• Derived Class (Child Class): The class that inherits from the base class.
• Types of Inheritance:
  • Single Inheritance: A class inherits from only one base class.
  • Multiple Inheritance: A class inherits from multiple base classes.
  • Hierarchical Inheritance: Multiple classes inherit from a single base class.
  • Multilevel Inheritance: A class inherits from a derived class.
• Access Specifiers in Inheritance:
  • Public Inheritance: Public members of the base class remain public in the derived class. Protected members remain protected.
  • Protected Inheritance: Public and protected members of the base class become protected in the derived class.
  • Private Inheritance: Public and protected members of the base class become private in the derived class.
• Virtual Functions: Functions declared with the virtual keyword in the base class, allowing derived classes to override them and achieve polymorphism.
• Abstract Classes: Classes that contain at least one pure virtual function (a virtual function with no implementation). Abstract classes cannot be instantiated.

Polymorphism

• Compile-Time Polymorphism (Static Polymorphism): Achieved through function overloading and operator overloading.
• Run-Time Polymorphism (Dynamic Polymorphism): Achieved through virtual functions and inheritance.
• Function Overriding: A derived class provides a specific implementation for a virtual function declared in the base class.
• Virtual Destructors: Declaring the destructor of a base class as virtual ensures that the correct destructor is called when deleting an object through a base class pointer.

Exception Handling

• try, catch, and throw Keywords: Used to handle exceptions.
• try Block: Encloses the code that might throw an exception.
• catch Block: Handles exceptions of a specific type.
• throw Statement: Used to throw an exception.
• Standard Exception Classes: C++ provides a hierarchy of exception classes derived from std::exception.

Templates

• Function Templates: Generic functions that can operate on different data types.
• Class Templates: Generic classes that can work with different data types.
• Template Parameters: Placeholders for data types that are specified when the template is instantiated.
• Template Specialization: Providing a specific implementation for a template when used with a particular data type.

Namespaces

• Used to organize code into logical groups and avoid naming conflicts.
• Declared using the namespace keyword.
• Members of a namespace can be accessed using the scope resolution operator ::.
• using Directive: Brings all members of a namespace into the current scope.
• using Declaration: Brings a specific member of a namespace into the current scope.

Advanced Topics

• Multithreading: Using multiple threads to perform concurrent tasks (using <thread> library).
• Smart Pointers: Automatically manage dynamically allocated memory (unique_ptr, shared_ptr, weak_ptr).
• Lambda Expressions: Anonymous functions that can be defined inline.
• Rvalue References: Allow moving resources from temporary objects (using &&).
• Move Semantics: Enable efficient transfer of resources from one object to another.