Week 0 Exercises

10 beginner + 5 challenge · save as eNN_description.cpp in unit-00/ · attempt everything before the answers · ← Orientation hub

All programs compile with the course command:

g++ -std=c++17 -Wall -Wextra eNN_description.cpp -o eNN
./eNN            # Windows: .\eNN.exe

(If any exercise needs it, the Getting Started lesson sections are linked inline. Predict before running — that habit starts now.)

Part A — 10 beginner exercises

E1 · e01_greeting.cpp — two-statement greeting. Print exactly:

Hello, student!
Welcome to C++.

…using exactly two std::cout statements. (§11–12 of the lesson.)

E2 · e02_oneline.cpp — same output, one statement. Print the same two lines using one std::cout statement and one "\n".

E3 · e03_escape.cpp — escape artist. Print exactly this text, including the quotes and the backslash:

The file is "C:\cpp\hello.cpp"

You will need both \" and \\. (Lesson §2, special characters table in Unit 01 Lesson 2 helps.)

E4 · e04_errors.cpp — error safari (compile errors). Start from the first-program listing. Make each change separately, compile, and write down the compiler’s first error message; then undo the change. Four safaris: (a) delete the ; on the cout line; (b) #inclde instead of #include; (c) std::cuot; (d) remove the closing } of main. Deliverable: your bug diary now has four entries with the exact messages.

E5 · e05_predict.cpp — predict before running. What does this print? Write the prediction on paper first, then run and check:

std::cout << "A" << "B" << "\n";
std::cout << "C";
std::cout << "D\nE\n";

E6 · e06_menu.cpp — menu mock. A menu is just formatted text (real menus arrive in Unit 04). Print exactly:

==== MAIN MENU ====
1) Start
2) Options
3) Exit
===================

Border lines are the same width; use one statement per line.

E7 · e07_tabs.cpp — tabular. Using \t and two statements, print:

Name    Marks
Ayesha  91
Bilal   84

Your column alignment should look tidy in the terminal — the columns align; exact spacing depends on your terminal’s tab stops.

E8 · e08_platform.cpp — platform report. Print three lines: your operating system, your compiler’s name (g++ or clang++), and the compile command you use (as text). Example:

OS       : Windows
Compiler : g++
Command  : g++ -std=c++17 -Wall -Wextra e08_platform.cpp -o e08

E9 · e09_breakfix.cpp — one bug, three ways. Write a correct three-line greeting program. Then produce its broken copy three times, each broken differently but so that each still fails to compile: a missing ;, a missing ", a misspelled main. Record all three messages. (You are building an error vocabulary on purpose.)

E10 · e10_explain.cpp — annotate. Take the first-program listing and add a // comment to every line explaining it in your own words — no copying the lesson’s wording. If a comment needs the word “magic”, rewrite it until it doesn’t.

Part B — 5 challenge exercises

Open-ended, ★-rated. No published solutions — your output and a clean compile are the judges. (★ = think + tinker; ★★ = one new idea; ★★★ = real design.)

C1 ★ · c01_poster.cpp. Print a centered-ish poster of your name (five lines: border, blank-ish padding line, name, padding, border), all borders the same width, using only cout, \n, spaces, and =. Bonus: make the borders exactly match the widest line — count characters by hand.

C2 ★ · c02_silent.cpp. Write a program that compiles with zero warnings but prints nothing at all (no output, exit code 0 — it must still be a valid program). Then write your one-sentence explanation of how a valid program can produce no output. (Hint: a program can be a complete, correct… no-op.)

C3 ★★ · c03_cascade.cpp. Produce a program with at least five compiler errors from a single root cause, then diagnose it: which single fix makes how many errors disappear? Document the cascade in comments — this is forensic training for the error messages you’ll meet all course.

C4 ★★ · c04_hexagon.cpp (platform-smart). Write one source file that prints your OS name in a decorative box, e.g.:

+------------------+
|                  |
|    Windows       |
|                  |
+------------------+

The portability challenge: the same file must compile unchanged on all three platforms (that’s automatic — cout is cout), but pick box widths that don’t wrap in any terminal. Verify once on a second platform (a lab machine, a friend’s, or an online compiler) if you can, and note what was identical and what differed (the commands, never the code).

C5 ★★★ · c05_workflow.cpp. Demonstrate the full professional loop on one file, documented: write the program to print a four-line motivational quote one line at a time, compiling after each added line (git users: commit after each compile). Then break it in a new way of your choosing, capture the error, fix it, and finish with a // LESSON: comment at the bottom summarising what the cycle taught you. The deliverable is the process, visible in your bug diary / commit log.

Answers to selected exercises

#include <iostream>

int main() {
    std::cout << "Hello, student!\n";
    std::cout << "Welcome to C++.\n";
    return 0;
}

std::cout << "Hello, student!\nWelcome to C++.\n";

std::cout << "The file is \"C:\\cpp\\hello.cpp\"\n";

AB
CDE

#include <iostream>

int main() {
    std::cout << "==== MAIN MENU ====\n";
    std::cout << "1) Start\n";
    std::cout << "2) Options\n";
    std::cout << "3) Exit\n";
    std::cout << "===================\n";
    return 0;
}

std::cout << "Name\tMarks\n";
std::cout << "Ayesha\t91\nBilal\t84\n";

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