What is the difference between ++i and i++ in C++? (2024)

There is a big distinction between the suffix and prefix versions of ++.

• In the prefix version (i.e., ++i), the value of i is incremented, and the value of the expression is the new value of i. So basically it first increments then assigns a value to the expression.
• In the postfix version (i.e., i++), the value of i is incremented, but the value of the expression is the original value of i. So basically it first assigns a value to expression and then increments the variable.

Example

Let's look at some code to get a better understanding −

#include<iostream>using namespace std;int main() { int x = 3, y, z; y = x++; z = ++x; cout << x << ", " << y << ", " << z; return 0;}

Output

This would give us the output −

5, 3, 5

Why is this? Let's look at it in detail −

• Initialize x to 3
• Assign y the value we get by evaluating the expression x++, ie, the value of x before increment then increment x.
• Increment x then assign z the value we get by evaluating the expression ++x, ie, value of x after the increment.
• Print these values