• the_tech_beastOP
    21·
    3 years ago

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

    • tmpod@lemmy.pt
      5·
      3 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
      51·
      3 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
        2·
        2 years 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 Starting with C will form unsafe habits and teach unsafe paradigms that have been replaced by language features or parts of the C++ standard library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
      2·
      3 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