Wide Characters in C++ (wchar_t)

In C++, the wchar_t type is used to represent wide characters, which are characters that require more than one byte to store. This is especially useful when dealing with internationalization and non-ASCII character sets such as Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, or special symbols.

What is wchar_t?

• wchar_t stands for wide character type.

• It is used to store extended characters that cannot be represented using standard 8-bit char.

• The size of wchar_t is implementation-defined, but commonly:

  • 2 bytes on Windows (UTF-16)
  • 4 bytes on Linux/macOS (UTF-32)

This allows it to hold characters from Unicode.

Declaring a Wide Character

You declare a wchar_t variable just like char, but prefix the character with L.

#include <iostream>
 
int main() {
    wchar_t symbol = L'Ω'; // Greek Omega character
    std::wcout << L"Symbol: " << symbol << std::endl;
    return 0;
}

std::wcout is the wide character version of std::cout. It supports wchar_t output.

Wide Character Literals and Strings

• Single wide characters: use L'c'
• Wide strings: use L"string"

#include <iostream>
 
int main() {
    wchar_t letter = L'中'; // Chinese character
    const wchar_t* word = L"你好"; // "Hello" in Chinese
 
    std::wcout << L"Letter: " << letter << std::endl;
    std::wcout << L"Word: " << word << std::endl;
    return 0;
}

Printing Wide Characters

To print wide characters, use:

• std::wcout instead of std::cout
• Include the header: #include <locale>

And set the locale:

#include <iostream>
#include <locale>
 
int main() {
    std::wcout.imbue(std::locale("")); // Use the system locale
 
    std::wcout << L"Arabic: " << L"السّلام عليكم" << std::endl;
    std::wcout << L"Japanese: " << L"こんにちは" << std::endl;
 
    return 0;
}

Without setting the locale, some systems may not correctly display Unicode characters.

Why Use wchar_t?

Wide Character Strings (std::wstring)

C++ provides std::wstring for wide-character strings, similar to std::string.

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
 
int main() {
    std::wstring greeting = L"नमस्ते"; // "Hello" in Hindi
 
    std::wcout.imbue(std::locale(""));
    std::wcout << L"Greeting: " << greeting << std::endl;
    return 0;
}

Practice Problem 1: Print Your Name in Unicode

Write a program to display your name in a language other than English using wide characters.

#include <iostream>
#include <locale>
 
int main() {
    std::wstring name = L"राहुल"; // "Rahul" in Hindi
    std::wcout.imbue(std::locale(""));
    std::wcout << L"My name is: " << name << std::endl;
    return 0;
}

Practice Problem 2: Print a Unicode Sentence

Create a program to print a sentence in multiple languages using std::wcout.

#include <iostream>
#include <locale>
 
int main() {
    std::wcout.imbue(std::locale(""));
    std::wcout << L"Chinese: 你好" << std::endl;
    std::wcout << L"Korean: 안녕하세요" << std::endl;
    std::wcout << L"Russian: Привет" << std::endl;
    return 0;
}

Summary

Tips for Beginners

• Always use std::wcout for wide characters; regular std::cout won’t work reliably.
• Remember to set the locale to properly view Unicode characters in most terminals.
• Don’t mix char and wchar_t unless you explicitly convert them.