A byte

• Is used to hold a single character

A character

• Is an individual symbol that displays on your screen
• It could be (B-1)

Example of (B-1)

• A lowercase letter: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, I, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, and z
• An uppercase letter: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, And Z
• A digit: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9
• A special characters: ‘ ~ # $ ! @ % ^ & * ( { [ ) } ] | \ : ; ・・+ – < _ ? > , / =.

To declare a variable as a character

• Use the C++ keyword char followed by a valid C++ name. (A-1)

Example of (A-1)

char Gender;

With a byte variable declared like (A-1)

• You can give the variable a starting value

Giving a value to a variable

• Is referred to as initializing it
• Initializing a variable is done with the = operator
• The syntax used is (A-2):

Example of (A-2)

VariableName = Value;

Since a char variable represents one symbol

• To initialize it, enclose the initial value in single quotes
• Here is an example (A-3):

Example of (A-3)

char Answer = 'y';

You can also initialize a variable

• By including its value between parentheses as (A-4)

Example of (A-4)

char Answer('y');

To display the value of an initialized variable

• Use the cout << extractor and type the name of the variable
• Here is an example (A-5):

Example of (A-5)

#include <iostream> 
 
using namespace std;
 
int main()
{
 
	char category = 'H';
 
	cout << "Category: " << category;
 
	cout << endl;
 
	return 0;
 
}

If the character is of a signed category

• You can declare it as a signed character
• This type of variable would be an 8-bit integer whose value can range from -128 to +127
• Here is an example (A-6):

Example of (A-6)

#include <iostream>
 
using namespace std;
 
int main()
{
 
	signed char category = 'D';
 
	cout << "Category: " << category;
 
	cout << endl;
 
	return 0;
 
}

You can also declare a positive character

• As unsigned char
• Here is an example (A-7):

Example of (A-7)

#include <iostream>
 
using namespace std;
 
int main()
{
 
	char letter = 'L';
 
	char category = 'n';
 
	unsigned char sound('x');
 
 
	cout << "Letter " << letter;
 
	cout << "Category " << category;
 
	cout << "Sound " << sound;
 
 
 
	return 0;
 
}

To request a byte variable

• Type the name of the variable on the right side of the cin >> extractor followed by a semi-colon
• Here is an example (A-8):

Example of (A-8)

#include <iostream>
 
using namespace std;
 
int main()
{
 
	char satisfaction, answer;
 
	signed char ageCategory, size;
 
 
 
	cout << "From A to Z, enter a character as your level of satisfaction: ";
 
	cin >> satisfaction;
 
	cout << "Age category(t=teen/a=Adult/s=Senior): ";
 
	cin >> ageCategory;
 
	cout << "Are you a nerd(y=Yes/n=No)? ";
 
	cin >> answer;
 
	cout << "Enter your size(s=Small/m=Medium/l=Large): ";
 
	cin >> size;
 
 
 
	cout << "\nSatisfaction: " << satisfaction;
 
	cout << "\nAge category: " << ageCategory;
 
	cout << "\nYour answer: " << answer;
 
	cout << "\nYour size: " << size;
 
 
 
	return 0;
 
}

To keep the integer value of a char positive

• You can declare it as an unsigned char
• Its value would then range from 0 to 255