• @the_tech_beastOP
    link
    12 years ago

    Oh… so cout << and return don’t mean the same thing.

    • Tmpod
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      fedilink
      52 years ago

      No. Printing something to the console (pushing something to cout with the << operator) is not the same as returning a value.

      Think of returns like what you have in math. When you have a function, let’s say

      int double(int n) {
          return 2 * n;
      }
      

      that returns an int, calling it will “replace” the expression with its result, much like in math. So in this instance, doing 3 + double(2) would be like doing 3 + 4. Math is the same way; if you have a function, f(x) = 2x, doing 3 + f(2) would be the same as doing 3 + 4.

      Printing to the console involves doing I/O (input/output), and actually writing a string to a file, which then the terminal can display.

    • @ChinaNumberOne
      link
      42 years ago

      don’t know if you are a beginner to programming in general or c/c++ specifically but it’s better to start with c before c++, it’s simpler and clearer (than c++) to a beginner

      then cout syntax is absolutely horrible and very misleading, use c’s printf or, if you can, use fmt, it’s super fast and even simpler than c’s printf

      • glibg10b
        link
        211 months ago

        If you want to learn C++, you should start with C++. Starting with C will form unsafe habits and teach unsafe paradigms that have been replaced by language features or parts of the C++ standard library

        it’s simpler and clearer (than c++) to a beginner

        A language only seems as clear as the tutorial used to teach it. If you think the basics of C++ can be better taught using a C tutorial,. you’ve been looking at the wrong C++ tutorials. Transitioning from C to C++ will be a confusing process for a beginner

    • LunaticHacker
      link
      22 years ago

      Of course they aren’t the same. try to achieve the same output with int sum() instead of void sum() this small exercise will help you understand the difference