Text and Numbers

You can send both text and numbers to the output. Text goes in double quotes, numbers are written without them. Decimal numbers are written with a dot: 3.5.

std::cout << 42 << "\n";
std::cout << 3.5 << "\n";

This prints:

42
3.5

After the numbers, we sent the text "\n", which contains only the end of the line.

The difference between text and a number is that C++ can calculate with numbers. It works out an expression without quotes and prints the result, while text in quotes is printed exactly as it is:

std::cout << 5 + 3 << "\n";
std::cout << "5 + 3" << "\n";

This prints:

8
5 + 3

You'll learn more about calculating in the next lesson.

You can mix text and numbers in one statement as you like; just write << before each part:

std::cout << "The game has " << 12 + 8 << " levels." << std::endl;

This prints:

The game has 20 levels.

<< doesn't put any spaces between the parts. You have to write the spaces you want in the output inside the quotes. A common mistake:

std::cout << "The game has" << 12 + 8 << "levels." << std::endl;

This prints:

The game has20levels.

Always put text in double quotes ". Single quotes, such as 'A', mean something else in C++: a single character, as you'll see in the next lesson.