Drashti
Drashti

Reputation: 111

If char can store a number in C++, why do we need int?

The char data type can store numbers, characters, and symbols, so what is the need for the int data type?

char = '2';

I have knowledge of use of int, but I want to know the conceptual part to describe it fundamentally.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 307

Answers (1)

geza
geza

Reputation: 29952

Usually, int can hold larger numbers than char. In current, widely available architectures, int is 32-bit, while char is 8-bit. Furthermore, it is implementation defined that a char is signed or unsigned.

On these architectures int can hold numbers between -2147483648 and 2147483647, while a (signed) char can hold numbers between -128 and 127.

Upvotes: 2

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