> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.syntblaze.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # C++ char The `char` type in C++ is a fundamental integral data type designed to represent a single character. It is guaranteed by the C++ Standard to be exactly one byte in size (`sizeof(char) == 1`), making it the smallest addressable unit of memory in the language. Under the hood, a `char` stores an integer value that corresponds to a specific character in the execution character set (typically ASCII). Because it is an integral type, it supports standard arithmetic and bitwise operations. ```cpp theme={"dark"} // Character literal initialization (enclosed in single quotes) char letter = 'A'; // Integer initialization (ASCII value of 'A') char ascii_letter = 65; // Arithmetic operation on a char char next_letter = letter + 1; // Results in 'B' (66) ``` ## Signedness and Distinct Types Unlike `int`, where `int` and `signed int` are identical, the C++ standard defines three **distinct** character types. The signedness of a plain `char` is implementation-defined; the compiler dictates whether it behaves as signed or unsigned based on the target architecture and compiler flags. * `char`: The default type used for character literals. Range depends on the compiler's default signedness. * `signed char`: Explicitly signed. Guaranteed range of at least -127 to 127 (typically -128 to 127 on modern two's complement systems). * `unsigned char`: Explicitly unsigned. Guaranteed range of 0 to 255. ```cpp theme={"dark"} char default_char = 200; // Value interpretation depends on compiler signedness signed char negative_char = -50; // Explicitly signed, valid range unsigned char raw_byte = 255; // Explicitly unsigned, maximum 8-bit value ``` ## Memory Characteristics The exact number of bits in a `char` is defined by the `CHAR_BIT` macro found in the `` header. While the standard requires a minimum of 8 bits, modern POSIX systems and the vast majority of architectures define `CHAR_BIT` as exactly 8 bits. ## Extended Character Types To support wider character sets and Unicode encodings that exceed the capacity of a standard 8-bit `char`, C++ provides several extended character types, each with specific literal prefixes: ```cpp theme={"dark"} // Size is implementation-defined (usually 16 or 32 bits) wchar_t wide_char = L'Ω'; // C++20: 8-bit UTF-8 character (underlying type is unsigned char) char8_t utf8_char = u8'A'; // C++11: 16-bit UTF-16 character (underlying type is uint_least16_t) char16_t utf16_char = u'ñ'; // C++11: 32-bit UTF-32 character (underlying type is uint_least32_t) char32_t utf32_char = U'🌍'; ```

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