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Demo 1:  Parts of a C++ Program

// Comments at the beginning:
// your name
// a description of the program
// information pertinent to the program

#include <iostream.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

int main(void)
{
     system ("CLS");
     cout<< "This is a literal print.\n";
     cout<< "Yea!"<<endl;

     return 0;
}

 

The CODE: Information about the code:
// Comments at the beginning:
// your name
// a description of the program
// information pertinent to the program
All programs should begin with a comment identifying the programmer and the purpose of the program. 
#include <iostream.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
Preprocessor directives begin with # and tell the computer to find the filename that follows and read it in.  The file iostream.h (Input/Output stream) is used by cout.  The stdlib.h is used to clear the screen.
Note:  <iostream.h> should always be your first "header" file. 
int main(void) This code begins the actual program.  EVERY C++ program has a main( ) function.  A function is a block of code that performs one or more actions.   While functions are usually called within a program, main( ) is called automatically.  You may see various adaptations of this line of code.  While other adaptations are allowed, be sure to maintain "int" as the return type because every ANSI-compliant C++ program will return zero to the IDE.
{
     system ("CLS");
     cout<< "This is a literal print.\n";
     cout<< "Yea!"<<endl;

     return 0;
}

Between the French curly braces is the body of function main( ).  It is indented and terminates by returning 0 to the IDE.  This body:
              * clears the screen,
              * prints
This is a literal print.
                           Yea!  
to the screen.
 

 

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