What does >> do in C++ with cin?

>> is the stream extraction operator — it reads data from an input stream such as cin into a variable.

int n;
cout << "Enter n: ";
// Read integer typed by the user
cin >> n;

Key points:

• cin is the standard input stream object
• >> automatically converts the text typed in to the variable's type (here, an int)
• It skips leading whitespace by default

Equivalent in C:

int n;
printf("Enter n: ");
scanf("%d", &n);

Tip: Notice there's no & before n — unlike C's scanf, cin >> takes the variable by reference and handles the address itself.