C++ char

In C++, the char keyword is used to declare character type variables. A character variable can store only a single character.

Example 1: Printing a char variable

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {

    // initializing a variable
    char ch = 'h';

    // printing the  variable
    cout << "Character = " << ch << endl;

    return 0;
}

Output

Character = h

In the example above, we have declared a character type variable named ch. We then assigned the character h to it.

Note: In C and C++, a character should be inside single quotation marks. If we use, double quotation marks, it's a string.

ASCII Value

In C and C++, an integer (ASCII value) is stored in char variables rather than the character itself. For example, if we assign 'h' to a char variable, 104 is stored in the variable rather than the character itself. It's because the ASCII value of 'h' is 104.

Here is a table showing the ASCII values of characters A, Z, a, z and 5.

To learn more about ASCII code, visit the ASCII Chart.

Example 2: Get ASCII Value of a Character

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {
    char ch = 'h';

    // Printing the corresponding ASCII of a character 
    // Notice the use of int() to get an integer
    cout << "ASCII value = " << int(ch) << endl;

    return 0;
}

Output

ASCII value = 104

We can get the corresponding ASCII value of a character by using int() when we print it.

We can assign an ASCII value (from 0 to 127) to the char variable rather than the character itself.

Example 3: Print Character Using ASCII Value

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {

    // assigning an integer value to char
    char ch = 104;

    // printing the variable
    cout << "Character = " << ch << endl;

    return 0;
}

Output

Character = h

Note: If we assign '5' (quotation marks) to a char variable, we are storing 53 (its ASCII value). However, if we assign 5 (without quotation marks) to a char variable, we are storing the ASCII value 5.

C++ Escape Sequences

Some characters have special meaning in C++, such as single quote ', double quote ", backslash \ and so on. We cannot use these characters directly in our program. For example,

// This code shows an error
char character = ''';

Here, we are trying to store a single quote character ' in a variable. But this code shows a compilation error.

So how can we use those special characters?

To solve this issue, C++ provides special codes known as escape sequences. Now with the help of escape sequences, we can write those special characters as they are. For example,

// does not show error
char character = ' \' ';

Here, \' is an escape sequence that allows us to store a single quote in the variable.

The table below lists escape sequences of C++.

Example 4: Using C++ Escape Sequences

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {
    char character1 = 'A';

     // using escape sequence for horizontal tab
    char character2 = '\t';

    char character3 = '5';

     // using escape sequence for new line
    char character4 = '\n';

    char character5 = 'a';

    // printing the variables
    cout << character1;       // A
    cout << character2;       // horizontal tab
    cout << character3;    // 5
    cout << character4;    // new line
    cout << character5;   // a

    return 0;
}

Output

A	5
a

In the above program, we have used two escape sequences: the horizontal tab \t and the new line \n.