Advanced Programming – A Complete Guide To Programming In C++

Yılmaz Yörü

2 years ago

Table of Contents

A Complete Guide To Advanced Programming In C++

This article is part of a series which teaches you the basics of how to write C++ software. C and C++ both make use of pointers. Often, new C++ programmers can struggle with both the concept and correct use of pointers. In this post we will explain what pointers are along with a discussion of linked lists which are a very common data structure type that are made possible thanks to pointers. We also look at sorting algorithms because, if you have a list then you often want to sort that list.

Pointers, Linked Lists and Sort Algorithms

Pointers are variables that hold addresses and the asterisk character ‘*’ is used to define pointers, they are used before the variable name – like so: *mystring. Pointers are some of the strongest aspects of the C & C++ programming languages. They allow you to reach any kind of type (including very large-sized bitmaps, videos or other data) without copying the whole data. A linked list is composed of structural elements, and it is a linear data structure, with each element stored at different memory locations. Linked lists support functions to add, insert, subtract, and delete each element from the list. Linked lists were popular much in the 80s to 2000s but nowadays that have been mostly replaced with vectors because of their simplified operations. They are a little bit hard to code for beginners, but also they are still really good if you are strong on all linked list operations.

Iterators

An Iterator (<iterator>) is an object that points to an element in a range of elements – for example characters of a string. We can use Iterators to iterate or navigate through the elements of this range using a set of operators, for example the ++, –, * operators. We can use these iterators to iterate different data types such as strings and vectors.

The Iterator begin() is a method, an iterator that points the first character of the string. The Iterator end() is a method, an iterator that points the last character of the string. We can use for() to iterate elements of an iteration in the range, between the begin() and end() iterators. Let’s see how we can use Iterators,

Lambda Expressions

A Lambda Expression defines an anonymous function or a closure at the point where it is used. You can think of a lambda expression as an unnamed function (that’s why it’s called “anonymous”). Lambda expressions help make code cleaner, more concise, and allow you to see behavior inline where it’s defined instead of referring to an external method, like a function. Lambda Expressions are an expression that returns a function object. It is well explained here. Lambda expressions are widely used in C++, C#, Groovy, Java, Python, Ruby languages too. Here are great posts with examples about how to use Lambda expressions in C++.

Vectors

Vectors are dynamic arrays included in <vector> library in modern C++. They can resize themselves automatically when a member of a vector is inserted or deleted. Vectors are the same as dynamic arrays and these dynamic arrays of vectors are handled automatically by the container. Vectors are the way of Modern C++; their members are placed in the contiguous memory storage; thus, they can be resized, and can be accessed and traversed using iterators.

When we Insert data into vectors it may take more time than static arrays because of the need of extending the vector array. Vectors have low memory usage as in dynamic array implementations, because of having good data cache utilization and locality of reference. We can easily access an element of a vector by giving its index between ‘[‘ and ‘]’ just as we do with arrays, which means vector members can be referenced by indices. Here are the posts with examples about vectors and iteration examples.

Optional

Optional definition (std::optional) manages an optional contained value, i.e., a value that may or may not be present. This class template comes with C++17 standard, it is used with CLANG and other C++ compilers which has this standard. A common use case for optional is the return value of a function that may fail. Any instance of optional<T> at any given point in time either contains a value or does not contain a value. If an optional<T> contains a value, the value is guaranteed to be allocated as part of the optional object footprint, i.e. no dynamic memory allocation ever takes place. Thus, an optional object models an object, not a pointer, even though operator*() and operator->() are defined.

Tutorial: Easily Learn To Use optional In Modern C++ On Windows

Templates

A Template is a simple and a very powerful statement in C++. A Template Function may have multiple template parameter types, and the function can still use regular non-templated types. In a previous post, about Function Overloading, we had two add() functions working with integer and float numbers, in that example we can say that add() function is overloaded with int and float parameter types, and with the same body.

Learn to Use Function Templates in C++

A Complete Guide To Programming In C++ with Databases

C++ Builder allows you to connect different database types with many component options like FireDAC, MyDAC etc. This kind of components allow your apps to use all sorts of databases and to edit, create, list, report, and print data both in code and visually with visual bindings.

The FireDAC component pack is one of the great components for database connections that comes with RAD Studio, C++ Builder or Delphi officially. FireDAC is a Universal Data Access library for developing applications for multiple devices, connected to enterprise databases. With its powerful universal architecture, FireDAC enables native high-speed direct access from Delphi and C++Builder to InterBase, SQLite, MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, DB2, SQL Anywhere, Advantage DB, Firebird, Access, Informix, DataSnap and more, including the NoSQL Database MongoDB.

Introduction to Modern Databases and Connections

We can connect to local or online databases by using Data Bindings. Data bindings allow us to connect the properties of our components and code to database fields and records in an automatic, low code way simply by describing how those interconnections work – “this database field is linked to the text property of this visual edit control”. Data bindings are an extremely powerful way of manipulating data in a way which means we write little or even NO code.

A Complete Guide To Professional Programming In C++

C++ is a great programming language and it’s hugely popular worldwide. It is a good programming language if you looking to develop yourself professionally to earn money. You can develop a single C++ program that runs on many platforms and devices. If you are good at C and C++, learning more new techniques, examples and new modern methods is a good way to improve your programming skills. Here we list a lot of topics that we released before which may help you to improve your professional and modern C++ programming skills.

Professional Topics

C++ Builder is the easiest and fastest C and C++ IDE for building simple or professional applications on the Windows, MacOS, iOS & Android operating systems. It is also easy for beginners to learn with its wide range of samples, tutorials, help files, and LSP support for code. RAD Studio’s C++ Builder version comes with the award-winning VCL framework for high-performance native Windows apps and the powerful FireMonkey (FMX) framework for cross-platform UIs.

You can download the free C++ Builder Community Edition here: https://www.embarcadero.com/products/cbuilder/starter.

Professional developers can use the Professional, Architect or Enterprise versions of C++ Builder. Please visit https://www.embarcadero.com/products/cbuilder.