How Can I Print the Integer Value of a Character in C using `cout`?

Outputting Characters as Integers through cout

In C , the cout stream treats the char, signed char, and unsigned char data types as characters rather than 8-bit integers, resulting in character outputs instead of numeric values. To overcome this, we seek a solution that allows us to display these characters as integers.

A solution to this problem involves utilizing the unary operator. By applying to a char variable, we promote it to a type that cout can interpret as a number, regardless of its original type. For example:

char a = 0xab;
cout << +a;

This code correctly prints the integer value of the character a, which is 171 (0xab in hexadecimal).

The unary operator works by performing a conversion from its operand's type to a type that can be meaningfully interpreted as a number. In the case of char, it promotes the value to int.

This approach is both concise and efficient, avoiding the need for explicit casting or type conversions. By utilizing the unary operator, we can easily output characters as integers, enabling us to display their numeric values as required.

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