Question

Cout << 1/0;

cout << sizeof(int);
int a, b; if (&a<&b) cout << 42;
int i=42; i >>= 3; cout << i;
What will be the output of the above code?
A) will throw an exception
B) 4
C) 42
D) 5

Answer 1

Division by zero will likely cause a runtime error, so the entire output is unpredictable. However, ignoring potential errors, sizeof(int) often outputs 4, the memory address comparison is indeterminate, and the bitwise shift operation results in an output of 5.

Step-by-step explanation:

The code snippet includes several operations such as division by zero, size retrieval, memory address comparison, and bitwise shifting. First, it's important to note that division by zero is undefined behavior in C++ and will likely result in a runtime error rather than an exception being thrown. Therefore, we cannot predict the behavior of cout << 1/0;.

Next, the sizeof(int) function will output the size of an int in bytes, which is typically 4 bytes on most modern systems. The conditional statement comparing memory addresses of if (&a<&b) is non-deterministic and should not be relied upon to output a consistent result; the output of 42 is undefined as it depends on how the compiler lays out variables a and b in memory. Lastly, the bitwise right shift operation i >>= 3; will shift the binary representation of i, which is initialized to 42, three places to the right, effectively dividing it by 2^3 (or 8). This will result in i being 5 after the operation.

Considering only the deterministic parts of the code, the most likely output is the value 5 at the end, assuming no exception or crash occurs due to the division by zero.