C++ Data Types



Definition of data types

There are many different types of data. Variables are classified according to their data type, which determines the kind of information that may be stored in them. Computer programs collect pieces of data from the real world and manipulate them in various ways.

There are many different types of data. In the realm of numeric information, for example, there are whole numbers and fractional numbers.

Although C++ offers many data types, in the very broadest sense there are only two: numeric and character. Numeric data types are broken into two additional categories: integer and floating-point.

Type Keyword
Boolean bool
Character char
Integer int
Floating point float
Double floating point double
Valueless void
Wide character wchar_t

Several of the basic types can be modified using one or more of these type modifiers:

  • signed
  • unsigned
  • short
  • long

Size and range of datatypes

Table below shows all C++ data types with their typical sizes and ranges.Depending on your operating system, the sizes and ranges may be different.

Type Typical Bit Width Typical Range
char 1byte -127 to 127 or 0 to 255
unsigned char 1byte 0 to 255
signed char 1byte -127 to 127
int 4bytes -2147483648 to 2147483647
unsigned int 4bytes 0 to 4294967295
signed int 4bytes -2147483648 to 2147483647
short int 2bytes -32768 to 32767
unsigned short int Range 0 to 65,535
signed short int Range -32768 to 32767
long int 4bytes -2,147,483,647 to 2,147,483,647
signed long int 4bytes same as long int
unsigned long int 4bytes 0 to 4,294,967,295
float 4bytes +/- 3.4e +/- 38 (~7 digits)
double 8bytes +/- 1.7e +/- 308 (~15 digits)
long double 8bytes +/- 1.7e +/- 308 (~15 digits)
wchar_t 2 or 4 bytes 1 wide character

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