Using cout in C++ to print hexadecimal values

cout is the standard output stream in C++, which is used to display output on the console. In C++, hexadecimal values can be printed using cout by employing the hex manipulator. The hex manipulator sets the basefield flag of the cout stream to hexadecimal, causing subsequent integer values to be displayed in hexadecimal format.

Here's an example code snippet:

#include <iostream>

int main() {
    int num = 255;

    std::cout << "Decimal: " << num << std::endl;

    std::cout << std::hex;  // Set output base to hexadecimal
    std::cout << "Hexadecimal: " << num << std::endl;

    std::cout << std::dec;  // Set output base back to decimal
    std::cout << "Decimal Again: " << num << std::endl;

    return 0;
}

In the above code, we have an integer variable num initialized with the value 255. We first print num in decimal format using std::cout. Then, we set the output base to hexadecimal using std::hex manipulator and print num again. Finally, we set the output base back to decimal using std::dec manipulator and print num one more time.

The output of the above code would be:

Decimal: 255
Hexadecimal: ff
Decimal Again: 255

Note that setting the output base to hexadecimal using std::hex affects the entire cout stream until another manipulator is used to change it back. Hence, it is necessary to use std::dec to revert the output base to decimal if needed in subsequent output statements.

Using cout along with the hex manipulator makes it easy to display integer values in hexadecimal format. This can be particularly useful when working with memory addresses, bitwise operations, or any situation where hexadecimal representation is desired.