Constants in C/C++ - GeeksforGeeks

03 Aug, 2021
As the name suggests the name constants are given to such variables or values in C/C++ programming language which cannot be modified once they are defined. They are fixed values in a program. There can be any types of constants like integer, float, octal, hexadecimal, character constants, etc. Every constant has some range. The integers that are too big to fit into an int will be taken as long. Now there are various ranges that differ from unsigned to signed bits. Under the signed bit, the range of an int varies from -128 to +127, and under the unsigned bit, int varies from 0 to 255.  
Defining Constants: In C/C++ program we can define constants in two ways as shown below:  
Using #define preprocessor directiveUsing a const keyword
Using #define preprocessor directive
Using a const keyword
Literals: The values assigned to each constant variables are referred to as the literals. Generally, both terms, constants and literals are used interchangeably. For eg, “const int = 5;“, is a constant expression and the value 5 is referred to as constant integer literal. Refer here for various Types of Literals in C++.Let us now learn about above two ways in details:  
Using #define preprocessor directive: This directive is used to declare an alias name for existing variable or any value. We can use this to declare a constant as shown below:#define identifierName valueidentifierName: It is the name given to constant.value: This refers to any value assigned to identifierName.using a const keyword: Using const keyword to define constants is as simple as defining variables, the difference is you will have to precede the definition with a const keyword.
Using #define preprocessor directive: This directive is used to declare an alias name for existing variable or any value. We can use this to declare a constant as shown below:#define identifierName valueidentifierName: It is the name given to constant.value: This refers to any value assigned to identifierName.
#define identifierName value
identifierName: It is the name given to constant.
value: This refers to any value assigned to identifierName.
using a const keyword: Using const keyword to define constants is as simple as defining variables, the difference is you will have to precede the definition with a const keyword.
Below program shows how to use const to declare constants of different data types:
C
C++
#include <stdio.h>  int main(){    // int constant    const int intVal = 10;       // Real constant    const float floatVal = 4.14;       // char constant     const char charVal = 'A';       // string constant    const char stringVal[10] = "ABC";           printf("Integer constant:%d \n", intVal );    printf("Floating point constant: %.2f\n", floatVal );    printf("Character constant: %c\n", charVal );    printf("String constant: %s\n", stringVal);          return 0;}
#include <iostream>using namespace std;   int main() {    // int constant    const int intVal = 10;       // Real constant    const float floatVal = 4.14;       // char constant     const char charVal = 'A';       // string constant    const string stringVal = "ABC";            cout << "Integer Constant: " << intVal << "\n";     cout << "Floating point Constant: " << floatVal << "\n";     cout << "Character Constant: "<< charVal << "\n";     cout << "String Constant: "<< stringVal << "\n";           return 0; }
Integer constant: 10 
Floating point constant: 4.14
Character constant: A 
String constant: ABC 
Refer Const Qualifier in C for details.
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