why we use >> and << in cin and cout?

Question

1.00/5 (1 vote)

See more:

C++

hi i am learning c++
why we use << and >> in cin and cout Instead of parentheses ?

Posted 19-Jun-11 0:44am

Reza Oruji

Add a Solution

Comments

CPallini 19-Jun-11 8:03am

They reasonably show the flow direction of the stream. Why do you think parentheses are more appropriate?

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 19-Jun-11 23:07pm

That reply would be quite enough, why saying anything else?
--SA

3 solutions

Solution 3

In addition to the other solutions, using the insertion and extraction operators is just convenience. I guess Stroustrup[^] just found it to be more readable and easier to write:

C++

cout << "The value is: " << value << endl;

instead of (hypothetical):

C++

cout.write("The value is: ").writeln(value).flush();

which could have been an alternative.

Posted 19-Jun-11 4:04am

Niklas L

Solution 2

if u want to accept data in to a variable

cin>>a means accepting data which we entered into variable 'a'

cout<<a means ur trying to display the value present in variable 'a'

Posted 19-Jun-11 1:33am

Srinivas Kumar Pasumarthi

Comments

Richard MacCutchan 19-Jun-11 7:48am

u ur
Please don't use txtspk as it makes you appear unprofessional, and also means nothing to people who do not have a good command of English.

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

Richard MacCutchan · Accepted Answer · 2011-06-19T01:01:00

These are overloaded operators. In a mathematical or logical expression these are the logical shift operators, as shown here[^]. However in a C++ class these operators can be overloaded to provide some other functionality, and in streams they are used as insertion and extraction operators as described here[^] and here[^].