C++ Type Conversion

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C++ allows for type conversion, which is the process of converting a value of one data type to another data type. There are two types of type conversions: implicit and explicit.

  1. Implicit Type Conversion:
    Implicit type conversion, also known as type coercion, happens automatically by the compiler when assigning a value of one data type to a variable of another data type. For example, when assigning an integer to a float variable, the integer value is automatically converted to a floating-point value:
int x = 10;
float y = x; // Implicit type conversion from int to float

Here, the value of "x" is automatically converted from an integer to a float when it is assigned to the variable "y". This is because the data type of "x" is implicitly promoted to float.

  1. Explicit Type Conversion:
    Explicit type conversion, also known as type casting, is the process of manually converting a value of one data type to another data type. In C++, you can perform explicit type casting by using type casting operators, such as static_cast, dynamic_cast, const_cast, and reinterpret_cast. Here is an example of explicit type casting:
float x = 10.5;
int y = static_cast<int>(x); // Explicit type conversion from float to int

Here, the variable "x" is a float variable containing the value 10.5. To convert it to an integer, we use the static_cast operator to explicitly cast the float value to an integer value, which is then assigned to the variable "y".

It is important to note that type conversion can result in a loss of precision or truncation of data. Care must be taken when performing type conversions to ensure that the data is converted correctly and accurately.

In summary, C++ allows for type conversion, which can be implicit or explicit. Implicit type conversion happens automatically by the compiler when assigning a value of one data type to a variable of another data type, while explicit type conversion is performed manually using type casting operators.