What is Input Output Operator in C++?

[Shiva$m]

Hey friends, I wanted to know what does the term Input and Output Operator means in C++? I tried to understand this there but I get confused between cin and cout? Which is for input and which is for output? I am not able to get it. If anyone is having any knowledge or information about this query than please let know as soon as possible. I think that it may be for input and output process but still i am not sure. Can anybody let me know whether i am right or wrong?

[Villiers]

C++ performs input and output operation by means of cin and cout statements. These statements uses two operators .These operators are known as input and output operator. << is known as output operator formally known as the insertion operator. This operator is overloaded operator. It directs the contents of variable on its right hand side to the object on its left. The general syntax is
cout<<variable;

[Dwarner]

For example

int a=10;
cout<< a;
In the above statement it directs the value of variable a to cout which sends it to display device.

cout <<can be used to display strings on the screen as

cout<<”hi how are you”;

This is the perfect example of cout in C++ where you will find that whatever you write in output will appear as message in your output. You must know that there is one output and one input operator in every programming language where in it could read and display the objects.

[Steyn]

The input operator allows a user to type in a value from the keyboard and places it in the variable. cin identifier is predefined object in c++ representing standard input stream i.e. keyboard. >> is known as input operator formally known as extraction operator. It gets a value from the keyboard and assign it to the variable on its left.
The general syntax is

cin >> variable;

For example
cin >> a;

[Vandam]

C++ performs the input and output operation by mean of cin and cout. These are the two objects of the predefined classes which are in header file iostream.h.So to perform the input output operation one has to include the iostream h header file in the program. cin uses the input operator << where as cout uses the output operator >>. Cin is a object which receives input from the keyboard and store the input given by the user in the variable defined by user. Where as cout it retrieves the value of the variable and display it on screen.
cin and cout are the two streams.
The general syntax for cin is as.

cin>> var1>>var2….;

The cin statement accepts the input from the user and store it in a variable which is on the right hand side.

The general syntax for cout is as.

cout<< var1<<var2….;
The cout statement retrieves data from the variable which is on the right hand side and display it on the screen.