How to Write a C++ Application that Converts Currency

Learn how to code a simple currency converter in C++

Last Updated: May 27, 2022

Are you looking for a project to practice your programming skills in C++? This tutorial will show you how to write a C++ program that converts currency.

Steps

1
Download Microsoft Visual Studio. Go to visualstudio.microsoft.com and download the Community version of Visual Studio to start writing your C++ Currency Converter.
2
Open up Visual Studio and create a project.

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3
Add a .cpp in your source files to start coding.
4
Declare your libraries and namespace. To make sure everything run, we must use include for consio.h, cstdlib, fstream, iomanip, iostream and string.
```
#include <consio.h>
#include <cstdlib>;
#include <fstream>;
#include <iomanip>;
#include <iostream>;
#include <string>;
using namespace std;
```
5
Create the main function where you are going to write the code in. Write all the codes inside the main function.
```
 int main()
{

}
```
6
Declare Double variables. Make USD and Rate double , as well as declare the currency rate. as in C++ Double stores real numbers.
```
double usd;
double rate;
double euro;
rate = 0.85;
```
7
Declare two columns. Create two columns where right justify label and left justified values.
```
const int COLMFT1 = 35;
const int COLMFT2 = 15;
```
8
Format the real numbers. To limit the amount of numbers after the decimal point use setprecision, in the example use set the sets the amount of decimal places to 2.
```
cout << fixed << setprecision(2);
```
9
Add an application header to welcome the user to the currency converter. Ex: “Welcome to C++ Currency Converter”
```
cout << "“Welcome to C++ Currency Converter" << endl;
```
10
Prompt user input. Use cout and cin statement to prompt the user for information.
```
cout << cout << setw(COLMFT1) << left << "Enter a value (US dollars): ";
    cin >> usd;
    cout << endl;
```
11
Show User input on screen. Show the user number of the user input on screen
```
cout << setw(COLMFT1) << left << "US dollars: ";
    cout << setw(COLMFT1) << right << usd << endl;
```
12
Show the conversion rate of currency on screen. Ex: $1 USD = $0.85 Euro
```
cout << setw(COLMFT1) << left << "Conversion rate(per US dollar): ";
cout << setw(COLMFT1) << right << rate << endl;
```
13
Calculate the given number with the rate. write a equation where it calculate the USD to euro.
```
euro = usd * rate;
```
14
Show the converted currency.
15
Add a closing statement to the application. Use cout statement to add a closing to the application.
```
cout << "\n--------------------------- " << endl;
cout << "\nEnd of Rate Converter" << endl;
```
16
Run the Windows debugger to make sure the application is running correctly. Click on “Local Windows Debugger” or Press F5 on the keyboard to run the application.