How to Effectively Manage Currency in C : Integers or Custom Classes?

Currency Management in C : Optimal Storage and Handling

Maintaining accurate currency representations in C can be a challenge due to the limitations of floating-point values. To address this, selecting an appropriate data structure is crucial.

Using Integers for Monetary Storage

The standard library lacks a dedicated currency type. However, using a signed integer of appropriate size can be a practical solution.

Store currency values as cents, rather than dollars, to avoid rounding errors. For instance, $12.45 would be represented as 1245. Using a 32-bit signed integer allows for a range of -$200,000 to $200,000. For larger amounts or higher precision, a 64-bit signed integer is suitable.

Encapsulation in a Monetary Class

Creating a custom class to encapsulate monetary values can provide several benefits:

• Centralized creation and manipulation of these values.
• Implementation of arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, etc.)
• Formatting for display in different currencies.

This approach allows you to keep track of the currency being stored (e.g., USD, CAD) and centralizes logic related to currency handling.

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