C++ Constants

Constants are named data-storage locations.  C++ has two types of constants: literal and symbolic. 

Literal constant is simply a value typed into the code. In following example 40 and Cat are the known as a literal constants.

E.g.

nCounter = 40;

strAnimalName = "Cat";

Symbolic constant is represented by a name.Its defined exactly the same way as a variable but the qualifier must start with the keyword const and the variable must be initialized.

E.g.

const int nMaxIterations = 49;

const unsigned long nMaxCharInFile = 123234;

Advantages of using Symbolic Constants:

• The symbolic names make the program more readable.
• It’s easier to change a single symbolic constant value than to find and replace all occurrences of a literal in a code.