Statements

C++ Statements

A computer program is a list of "instructions" to be "executed" by a computer.

In a programming language, these programming instructions are called statements.

The following statement "instructs" the compiler to print the text "Hello World" to the screen:

Example

cout << "Hello World!";

It is important that you end the statement with a semicolon ;

If you forget the semicolon (;), an error will occur and the program will not run:

Example

cout << "Hello World!"

Many Statements

Most C++ programs contain many statements.

The statements are executed, one by one, in the same order as they are written:

Example

  cout << "Hello World!";
cout << "Have
  a good day!";
return 0;

Example explained

From the example above, we have three statements:

1. cout << "Hello World!";
2. cout << "Have a good day!";
3. return 0;

The first statement is executed first (print "Hello World!" to the screen). Then the second statement is executed (print "Have a good day!" to the screen). And at last, the third statement is executed (end the C++ program successfully).

Note: You will learn more about statements while reading this tutorial. For now, just remember to always end them with a semicolon to avoid any errors. Coming up: The next chapter will teach you how to control the output and how to insert new lines to make it more readable.