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Increment (Prefix and Postfix) | Variables
Introduction to C++
course content

Course Content

Introduction to C++

Introduction to C++

1. Basics
2. Variables
3. Conditional Statements
4. Loops
5. Intro to Arrays

bookIncrement (Prefix and Postfix)

C++ provides us with the assignment operators which help to shorten the code and make it more readable. They can assign the value and perform the operation at the same time.

The same syntax can be applied to all operators:

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x += 2; // is equivalent to x = x + 2 x -= 3; // is equivalent to x = x - 3 x *= 4; // is equivalent to x = x * 4 x /= 2; // is equivalent to x = x / 2 x %= 5; // is equivalent to x = x % 5
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The increment operator ++ and decrement operator -- increases and decreases the value of the variable by 1 respectively:

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int x = 2; int y = 2; cout << ++x << endl; cout << --y;
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The operator ++ has two forms: prefix (++x) and postfix (x++).

  • Prefix increments/decrements firstly the value and then evaluates the expression.
  • Postfix evaluates firstly the expression and then increments/decrements the value.

Example:

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int x = 2; int y = 2; cout << "x: " << x++ << endl; // Firstly print the value and then increase it by 1 cout << "y: " << ++y << endl; // Firstly increase the value by 1 and then print it
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question-icon
Fill the gap. Decrement value of the variable `x`. Print the variable `x`.

#include
using namespace std;

int main() {
    int x = 3;
    x
;
    
<< x;

    return 0;
}
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Section 2. Chapter 7
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