🏛️ C++ Constants and Literals: The Unchanging Treasures

Imagine you have a treasure chest with special locked boxes inside. Once you put something in a locked box and close it, nobody can change what’s inside—EVER. That’s what constants are in C++!

🎯 What Are We Learning?

Think of your program as a recipe book:

• Variables are like ingredients you can swap out
• Constants are like the chef’s secret recipe—carved in stone, never changing!

📦 Part 1: Constants and the const Keyword

The Magic Lock 🔐

When you write const, you’re putting a magical lock on a value. Once locked, it stays the same forever!

Simple Example:

const int MY_AGE = 10;
// MY_AGE will ALWAYS be 10
// You can NEVER change it!

Why Use Constants?

Think about the speed of light—it never changes! Or π (pi) = 3.14159… Scientists don’t want anyone accidentally changing these values.

Real Life Examples:

const double PI = 3.14159;
const int DAYS_IN_WEEK = 7;
const int HOURS_IN_DAY = 24;

The Rules of Constants

graph TD
    A["Create a Constant"] --> B["Give it a value"]
    B --> C["Lock it forever!"]
    C --> D["Use it anywhere"]
    D --> E["But NEVER change it"]

What happens if you try to change a constant?

const int MAGIC_NUMBER = 42;
MAGIC_NUMBER = 100; // ❌ ERROR!
// The compiler says "NO WAY!"

Two Ways to Create Constants

Way 1: const keyword (The Modern Way) ✅

const int MAX_SCORE = 100;

Way 2: #define (The Old Way)

#define MAX_SCORE 100

Tip: Use const—it’s safer and smarter!

🔢 Part 2: Numeric Literals

What’s a Literal?

A literal is the actual value you write in your code. When you type the number 5, that’s a literal—it literally means five!

Integer Literals (Whole Numbers)

You can write numbers in different “languages”:

Fun Example:

int decimal = 42;      // Regular
int octal = 052;       // Same as 42!
int hex = 0x2A;        // Same as 42!
int binary = 0b101010; // Same as 42!

All four variables hold the SAME value: 42!

Floating-Point Literals (Decimal Numbers)

These are numbers with decimal points, like money!

double price = 19.99;      // Regular
double big = 1.5e6;        // 1,500,000
double tiny = 3.14e-2;     // 0.0314

The e means “times 10 to the power of”:

• 1.5e6 = 1.5 × 10⁶ = 1,500,000

Adding Suffixes (Labels)

You can add letters to tell C++ the exact type:

long big_num = 1000000L;    // L = long
unsigned positive = 42U;    // U = unsigned
float price = 9.99F;        // F = float
long long huge = 123LL;     // LL = long long

📝 Part 3: String and Character Literals

Character Literals (Single Letters)

A character is ONE letter, number, or symbol in single quotes:

char grade = 'A';
char digit = '5';
char symbol = '@';

Escape Sequences (Secret Codes!)

Some characters are invisible or special. We use backslash \ to write them:

Example:

char newline = '\n';
char tab = '\t';
cout << "Hello\nWorld";
// Prints:
// Hello
// World

String Literals (Words & Sentences)

A string is text in double quotes:

string greeting = "Hello, World!";
string name = "Alice";

Raw Strings (No Escape Needed!)

Sometimes you want to write exactly what you see:

// Normal string (escapes needed)
string path = "C:\\Users\\Name";

// Raw string (write naturally!)
string path = R"(C:\Users\Name)";

Raw strings start with R"( and end with )"

String Prefixes (Different Flavors)

// Regular string
"Hello"

// Wide string (for international chars)
L"Hello"

// UTF-8 string
u8"Hello"

// UTF-16 string
u"Hello"

// UTF-32 string
U"Hello"

🎨 Part 4: User-Defined Literals

Create Your Own Magic!

Imagine if you could write 5_km and C++ knows you mean 5 kilometers! That’s what user-defined literals do.

Example: Distance Converter

// Define your own literal
long double operator""_km(
    long double km) {
    return km * 1000; // to meters
}

// Now use it!
auto distance = 5.0_km;
// distance = 5000 (meters)

Built-in User Literals (Since C++14)

C++ has some ready-made ones:

#include <chrono>
#include <string>
using namespace std::literals;

// Time literals
auto sec = 5s;      // 5 seconds
auto ms = 100ms;    // 100 milliseconds

// String literal
auto str = "Hello"s; // std::string

How It Works

graph TD
    A["You write 5_km"] --> B["C++ sees the _km"]
    B --> C["Calls your function"]
    C --> D["Returns 5000"]
    D --> E["Magic complete!"]

More Examples:

// Define weight in pounds to kg
constexpr double operator""_lb(
    long double lb) {
    return lb * 0.453592;
}

auto weight = 150.0_lb;
// weight ≈ 68.04 kg

🎮 Quick Recap

graph TD
    A["Constants & Literals"] --> B["const keyword"]
    A --> C["Numeric Literals"]
    A --> D["String/Char Literals"]
    A --> E["User-Defined Literals"]

    B --> B1["Never changes!"]
    C --> C1["int, float, hex..."]
    D --> D1["Text and characters"]
    E --> E1["Custom suffixes"]

💡 Remember This!

🚀 You Did It!

Now you know:

• ✅ How to create unchanging values with const
• ✅ Different ways to write numbers (decimal, hex, binary)
• ✅ How to work with text and special characters
• ✅ How to create your own custom literals!

Constants are like promises in your code—once made, never broken!