C++ programmers have access to the five data types for C: void, int, float, double, and char.
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| void | associated with no data type |
| int | integer |
| float | floating-point number |
| double | double precision floating-point number |
| char | character |
In addition, C++ defines two more: bool and wchar_t.
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| bool | Boolean value, true or false |
| wchar_t | wide character |
Several of these types can be modified using the keywords signed, unsigned, short, and long. When one of these type modifiers is used by itself, a data type of int is assumed. A complete list of possible data types follows:
| bool |
| char |
| unsigned char |
| signed char |
| int |
| unsigned int |
| signed int |
| short int |
| unsigned short int |
| signed short int |
| long int |
| signed long int |
| unsigned long int |
| float |
| double |
| long double |
| wchar_t |
The size and range of any data type is compiler and architecture dependent. The “cfloat” (or “float.h”) header file often defines minimum and maximum values for the various data types. You can use the sizeof operator to determine the size of any data type (frequently expressed as a number of bytes). However, many architectures implement data types of a standard size. ints and floats are often 32-bit, chars 8-bit, and doubles are usually 64-bit. bools are often implemented as 8-bit data types.