3.5. Data Types: Arithmetic Operators

In programming logic, data are fundamental elements that we manipulate to create efficient solutions to computational problems. Data in programming is categorized into different types such as integers, floating point numbers, characters, strings and Booleans. In this section, we'll explore data types and how we use arithmetic operators to manipulate them.

Data Types

Data types are essential for creating programs because they define the operations that can be performed with data and how values ​​are stored in memory. The most common data types include:

• Integers: These are numbers without a decimal part, and can be positive or negative.
• Floating point: These are numbers that have a decimal part. They are useful when we need greater precision in calculations.
• Characters: Are used to store letters, numbers and symbols.
• Strings: These are sequences of characters used to store text.
• Booleans: They are used to store only two values: true or false.

Arithmetic Operators

Arithmetic operators are used to perform mathematical operations on data. The most common arithmetic operators include:

• Addition (+): Adds two numbers.
• Subtraction (-): Subtracts one number from another.
• Multiplication (*): Multiplies two numbers.
• Division (/): Divides one number by another.
• Module (%): Returns the remainder of dividing one number by another.

These operators can be used with integers and floating-point numbers. However, we must be careful when using them with other types of data. For example, adding strings concatenates the strings instead of adding the values.

Examples of using Arithmetic Operators

Here are some examples of how we use arithmetic operators in different contexts:

Example 1: Adding Integers

int a = 5;
int b = 10;
int sum = a + b; // sum will be 15

Example 2: Subtraction of floating point numbers

float a = 7.5;
float b = 3.5;
float difference = a - b; // difference will be 4.0

Example 3: String concatenation

string a = "Hello, ";
string b = "world!";
string greeting = a + b; // greeting will be "Hello world!"

Understanding data types and arithmetic operators is fundamental to programming logic. They are the basis for creating complex and efficient programs. In the next section, we'll explore relational operators and how they're used to compare data.