C++ PROGRAMMING

Smart Computing Department

Fall-2026
 Introduction to Computer and Programming

Smart Computing Department 2

Why Program?
❑ Concept
 Computers can do many different jobs because they are programmable
 Computers are not designed to do just one job, but
To do any job that their programs tell them to do

❑ Program
 It is a set of instructions that a computer follows to perform a task
Examples are: MS-Word, Power-point, etc.

 Programs are commonly referred to as software

Software is essential to a computer because without software, a computer can do nothing
Software are created by individuals known as programmers or software developers
A programmer is a person with the training and skills necessary to create programs

Smart Computing Department 3

Why Program?
❑ Concept
 Computers can do many different jobs because they are programmable
 Computers are not designed to do just one job, but
To do any job that their programs tell them to do

❑ Program
 It is a set of instructions that a computer follows to perform a task
Examples are: MS-Word, Power-point, etc.

 Programs are commonly referred to as software

Software is essential to a computer because without software, a computer can do nothing
Software are created by individuals known as programmers or software developers
A programmer is a person with the training and skills necessary to create programs

Smart Computing Department 4

 Computer Systems
❑ Allcomputer system consist of similar hardware devices and software
components
❑ Hardware
 It refers to the physical components of a computer
 A computer is not an individual device but a system of devices
 A computer system consists of the following major components:
The central processing unit (CPU)
Main memory (random-access memory, or RAM)
Secondary storage devices (hard-disk drive)
Input devices
Output devices

Smart Computing Department 5

Hardware

Smart Computing Department 6

Hardware (Contd…)
❑ The CPU
 When a computer is performing the tasks, we say that the computer is executing
the program
 The CPU is the part of a computer that actually runs programs
Without CPU the computer could not run software

 Today’s CPUs, known as microprocessors

 The CPU’s job is:
To fetch instructions, follow the instructions
Produce some result

 CPU consists of two parts

ALU and control unit

Smart Computing Department 7

Hardware (Contd…)
❑ The CPU
 Control unit
It coordinates all of the computer’s operations
Responsible for determining where to get the next instruction

 Arithmetic and logic unit (ALU)

It performs mathematical operations

❑ Main Memory
 Commonly known as RAM
 Volatile type of memory only used for temporary storage while a program
running
 CPU is able to quickly access data stored at any random location in RAM

Smart Computing Department 8

Hardware (Contd…)
❑ A computer’s memory is divided into tiny storage cells known as
bytes
 One byte is enough memory to store just a single letter or a small number
 Each byte is divided into eight smaller storage locations known as bits
The term bit stands for binary digit

 Each byte is assigned a unique number known as an address

A bye is identified by its address
E.g., the number 149 is stored in the cell at address 16, and the number 75 at address 23

Smart Computing Department 9

Hardware (Contd…)
❑ Secondary storage
 Type of memory that can hold data for long period of times even when there is
no power to the computer
Frequently used programs are stored in secondary memory and loaded into main memory
as needed
 The most common types are:
A disk drive
External disk drives
USB (universal serial bus) flash drives
Optical devices
CD (compact disc)
DVD (digital versatile disc)

Smart Computing Department 10

Hardware (Contd…)
❑ Input devices
 The device that collects the information and sends it to the computer
 Common input devices are:
Keyboard and Mouse
Touch screen
Scanner
Digital camera
Microphone

❑ Output devices
 Any information the computer sends to the outside world
 Common output devices are: printer, monitor, speakers, etc.

Smart Computing Department 11

 Software
❑ The “Software” is a generic term used to describe computer programs
❑ There are two general categories of software
 System software
 Application software
❑ System software
 The program that control and manage the basic operations of a computer
 System software is responsible for managing hardware components
 Example:
Operating system (OS)
Utility programs (e.g., virus scanners, file-compression program, data-backup programs
Software development tools (e.g., compilers, text editors, IDEs)

Smart Computing Department 12

Software (Contd…)
❑ Application software
 Program that make a computer useful for everyday tasks
 Application software can be a single program or a collection of small programs
 Application software are often called end-user programs or simply applications
Performs specific tasks for an end-user

 It enable the user to complete tasks

Creating documents, databases
Sending emails, doing online research
Designing graphics
Running business

Smart Computing Department 13

Programming Languages
❑ To communicate with computers, programmers/developers need a
language which is called programming language
❑ Programs are created through programming languages to control the
behavior and output of a machine through algorithms
❑ Two categories of programming languages:
 Low-level language
It resembles the numeric machine language of the computer
Designed to be directly understandable by a computer
It is machine-dependent language. Entirely comprised of binary, 0’s and 1’s
Machine language is also called as machine code
Programs written in low-level language can run and execute very fast
Processor runs low-level program directly without the need of a compiler or interpreter

Smart Computing Department 14

Programming Languages (Contd…)
❑ High level language
 It is more like human language
 High-level language are platform independent
Programs written in a high-level language can be executed on different types of machines

 A program written in the high-level language is called source code

 It is designed for developing software programs and web applications
 For a computer to understand and execute a program written in high-level
language, it must be translated into machine language
This translation is done using
either compiler or interpreter

Smart Computing Department 15

Programming Languages (Contd…)
❑ High level language
 It is more like human language
 High-level language are platform independent
Programs written in a high-level language can be executed on different types of machines

 A program written in the high-level language is called source code

 It is designed for developing software programs and web applications
❑ For a computer to understand and execute a program written in high-
level language, it must be translated into machine language
 This translation is done using either:
compiler or interpreter

Smart Computing Department 16

Programming Languages (Contd…)
❑ Compiler
 A compiler is a system software program that transforms high-level source code
written by a programmer in a high-level programming language into a low-level
machine language
 This converting process is known as compilation
 Before program runtime, the entire source code is checked and converted into
machine code
 Generates an error message after examining the entire code
Errors can be found before execution
Errors are shown at the end together

 Programming languages like C, C++, C#, Java use compilers

Smart Computing Department 17

 Programming Languages (Contd…)
❑ Interpreter
 An interpreter is a program that reads source code one statement at a time
Translate the statement into machine language and executes the machine language
statement, then continues with the next statement
 An interpreter require a discovered error to be fixed before the program can
continue running
 Convert one statement at a time at program runtime
 The time it takes to analyze the source code is small, but the overall execution
time is relatively slower than compiler
 It continues to translate the program until it encounters the first error
Stops when it encounter an error

 Programming languages like Python use interpreter

Smart Computing Department 18
Programming Languages (Contd…)
❑ Concept of language level

Smart Computing Department 19

Programming Languages (Contd…)
❑ Well-known high-level programming languages are:

Smart Computing Department 20

 Programming Languages (Contd…)
❑ Source code
 The statements written by the programmer are called source code
 The file where the source code is saved is called the source file (.cpp extension)
❑ Object code
 If the program is free of syntax errors, the compiler stores the translated
machine language instructions, which are called object code
In an object file, the translated machine language instructions are stored

❑ Preprocessor
 A preprocessor program reads the source code
 It searches for special lines that begin with the # symbol
These lines contains commands, or directives (e.g., #include, #define)

Smart Computing Department 21

 Programming Languages (Contd…)
❑ Syntax errors
 The syntax errors are illegal uses of:
Key words
Operators
Punctuation
Some other language elements

❑ Library
 A prewritten code for performing common operations
❑ Executable code
 During translation process, a program called the linker combines the object file
with the necessary library routines
 Once the linker has finished with this step, an executable file is created

Smart Computing Department 22

Compilation
❑ The process of translating a C++
source file into an executable
file
 The entire process of invoking the
preprocessor, compiler, and linker
can be initiated with a single action
This action is known as the
compilation process or simply
compilation
This process transforms human-
readable source code into an
executable program

Smart Computing Department 23

Compilation (Contd…)
❑ The high level programs
are compiled by the
compiler in four stages
 Preprocessing
 Compilation
 Assembling
 Linking

Smart Computing Department 24

Compilation (Contd…)
❑ The following three steps are required to
create and translate a C++ program
 A text editor is used to save the C++ program in a
file.
A source code is saved to a source file

 The source file is put through a compiler for

translation. If no error, an object file made up of
machine code is created.
The object file is also referred to as a module

 The linker combines the object file with other

modules to form an executable file

Smart Computing Department 25

 Assignment-1
❑ Differentiate the compiler and interpreter. You must include the
following:
How and why are these two different?
Pros and cons
examples

❑ Describe how the C++ compilation process works.

Note: You can submit either by email or as a hard copy.

Smart Computing Department 26

Next Lecture

Computer Programming Concept

Smart Computing Department 27