Question

Enlist the basic data types used in C++ with size of data in terms of bytes for each.

Answer 1

There are three main types of built-in data types used in C++ viz., integral type, void and floating type.

1. Integral data type: It covers both integers (ints) and characters (chars). An int variable requires 2 bytes to store, while a character variable requires 1 byte. Integer variables are classified into two types: (a) short int and (b) long int. A long integer takes 4 bytes, but a small integer requires only 2.
2. Void data type: Void data type is used
   1. to specify the return type of a function that does not return any value.
   2. to specify an empty argument list for a function.
   3. to declare generic pointers.
3. Floating type: Floating type variables are classified into two types: float and double. A float variable requires 4 bytes, while a double variable needs 8 bytes to be stored in memory. Long doubles require 10 bytes to store in memory. The following table displays all basic data kinds, sizes, and ranges:
   

   Sr. No.	Type	Bytes	Range
   1	char (Signed char)	1	−128 to 127
   2	unsigned char	1	0 to 255
   3	int (short int or signed int)	2	−32768 to 32767
   4	unsigned int	2	0 to 65535
   5	float	4	3.4 × 10−38 to 3.4 × 10−38
   6	double	8	1.7 × 10−308 to 1.7 × 10−308
   7	long double	10	3.4 × 10−4932 to 3.4 × 10−4932