C++ Program to Check Whether a character is Vowel or Consonant.

Introduction

In C++, determining whether a character is a vowel or consonant is a fundamental exercise that helps beginners understand control structures, such as conditional statements. This type of program can also introduce beginners to character handling and comparisons in C++.

In this article, you will learn how to implement a simple C++ program to check if a given character is a vowel or a consonant. You will explore examples using if-else statements and switch-case statements, representing two different approaches to achieve the same result.

Using if-else Statement

Check Character Using if-else

1. Start by including the necessary header file.

2. Declare a character variable to store the input.

3. Use an if-else structure to determine if the character is a vowel or consonant.

   cpp Copy

   #include <iostream>
   using namespace std;
   
   int main() {
       char c;
       cout << "Enter a character: ";
       cin >> c;
   
       if (c == 'a' || c == 'e' || c == 'i' || c == 'o' || c == 'u' ||
           c == 'A' || c == 'E' || c == 'I' || c == 'O' || c == 'U') {
           cout << c << " is a vowel." << endl;
       } else {
           cout << c << " is a consonant." << endl;
       }
       return 0;
   }
   

   In this code, when you provide a character, it checks against all vowels (both lowercase and uppercase). If the character matches any of the vowels, it prints that the character is a vowel; otherwise, it prints that the character is a consonant.

Using Switch-Case Statement

Check Character Using switch-case

1. Include the header file for input-output operations.

2. Initialize a character variable for the user input.

3. Implement a switch-case structure to handle each vowel and a default case for consonants.

   cpp Copy

   #include <iostream>
   using namespace std;
   
   int main() {
       char c;
       cout << "Enter a character: ";
       cin >> c;
   
       switch (tolower(c)) {  // Convert character to lower case for simplicity
           case 'a':
           case 'e':
           case 'i':
           case 'o':
           case 'u':
               cout << c << " is a vowel." << endl;
               break;
           default:
               cout << c << " is a consonant." << endl;
       }
       return 0;
   }
   

   This snippet utilizes the switch statement to check if a character is a vowel by converting the character to lowercase using the tolower() function. If the character is a vowel, it is acknowledged as such; otherwise, the default case assumes it is a consonant.

Handling Non-Alphabetical Characters

Improving the Program

1. Incorporate a check to handle non-alphabetical inputs.

2. Modify the code to provide feedback if the input is not a valid letter.

   cpp Copy

   #include <cctype>  // Include ctype.h for isalpha() function
   #include <iostream>
   using namespace std;
   
   int main() {
       char c;
       cout << "Enter a character: ";
       cin >> c;
   
       if (!isalpha(c)) {
           cout << "Please enter an alphabetic character." << endl;
       } else if (tolower(c) == 'a' || tolower(c) == 'e' || tolower(c) == 'i' || tolower(c) == 'o' || tolower(c) == 'u') {
           cout << c << " is a vowel." << endl;
       } else {
           cout << c << " is a consonant." << endl;
       }
       return 0;
   }
   

   This enhanced code first checks if the character is alphabetic using the isalpha() function. If it isn't, it prompts the user to enter a valid alphabetic character. If the character is alphabetic, it then proceeds to check if it's a vowel or a consonant.

Conclusion

Establishing whether a character is a vowel or a consonant using C++ provides an excellent learning platform for understanding control flow in programming. Mastering the use of simple conditional statements and the switch-case structure not only helps in basic character evaluation but also sets the foundation for more complex programming tasks. Ensure to always handle possible exceptions like non-alphabetical inputs to make the program robust and user-friendly.