Vector Calculator

A C++ console application for performing 2D and 3D vector operations with interactive menus and Gnuplot visualization.

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Features

• Vector Addition — Add two 2D or 3D vectors
• Vector Subtraction — Subtract two 2D or 3D vectors
• Scalar Multiplication — Multiply a vector by a scalar
• Dot Product — Compute the scalar dot product of two vectors
• Cross Product — Compute the cross product of two 3D vectors
• Magnitude — Compute the length/magnitude of a vector
• Angle Between Vectors — Compute the angle in degrees between two vectors
• Plot Two Vectors — Visualize two vectors and their resultant using Gnuplot (normalized)

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Project Structure

VectorCalculator/
├── main.cpp          # Entry point, menu, input handling, operation dispatch
├── vector.hpp        # Vector2D and Vector3D class declarations
├── vector.cpp        # Vector2D and Vector3D method implementations
└── gnuplot-iostream.h # Gnuplot C++ interface header

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Dependencies

Dependency	Purpose
Gnuplot	Plotting vectors visually
Boost	boost::tuple used for Gnuplot data formatting
Windows SDK	Console handling (Windows.h, conio.h)

Note: This project currently targets Windows only due to the use of Windows.h and conio.h.

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Installation

1. Install Gnuplot

Download and install Gnuplot from gnuplot.info.

The default path expected by the application is:

C:\Program Files\gnuplot\bin\gnuplot.exe

If your installation path differs, update this line in main.cpp:

Gnuplot gp("\"C:\\Program Files\\gnuplot\\bin\\gnuplot.exe\"");

2. Install Boost

Download Boost from boost.org and add the include path to your compiler/IDE settings.

3. Build the Project

Using g++ (MinGW on Windows):

g++ main.cpp vector.cpp -o VectorCalculator -I path/to/boost

Or open the project in Visual Studio and build normally after configuring Boost include paths.

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Usage

Run the executable. You will see the following menu:

----SIMPLE VECTOR CALCULATOR----
1. Vector Addition
2. Vector Subtraction
3. Vector Multiplication
4. Dot Product
5. Cross Product (3D only)
6. Magnitude
7. Angle Between Vectors
8. Plot Two Vectors
0. Exit

Entering Vectors

• 2D vector: Enter two space-separated numbers

  Enter the First vector: 3 4
  

• 3D vector: Enter three space-separated numbers

  Enter the First vector: 1 2 3
  

The application automatically detects whether input is 2D or 3D based on the number of components provided.

Example — Dot Product

Option: 4
Enter the First vector: 1 2 3
Enter the Second vector: 4 5 6
Resultant Scalar: [32]

Example — Cross Product

Option: 5
Enter the First vector: 1 0 0
Enter the Second vector: 0 1 0
Resultant Vector: [0, 0, 1]

Example — Plot

Selecting Plot opens a Gnuplot window displaying both vectors and their resultant, all normalized to unit length for consistent visualization.

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Supported Operations by Dimension

Operation	2D	3D
Addition	✅	✅
Subtraction	✅	✅
Scalar Multiplication	✅	✅
Dot Product	✅	✅
Cross Product	❌	✅
Magnitude	✅	✅
Angle Between	✅	✅
Plot	✅	✅

Cross product is only defined for 3D vectors. Attempting it with 2D vectors will return an error.

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Vector Class API

Vector2D

Vector2D(double x, double y);
Vector2D operator+(const Vector2D& other) const;
Vector2D operator-(const Vector2D& other) const;
Vector2D operator*(double scalar) const;
double dotProduct(const Vector2D& other) const;
double magnitude() const;
double angleBetween(const Vector2D& other) const; // returns degrees
Vector2D normalize() const;

Vector3D

Vector3D(double x, double y, double z);
Vector3D operator+(const Vector3D& other) const;
Vector3D operator-(const Vector3D& other) const;
Vector3D operator*(double scalar) const;
double dotProduct(const Vector3D& other) const;
Vector3D crossProduct(const Vector3D& other) const;
double magnitude() const;
double angleBetween(const Vector3D& other) const; // returns degrees
Vector3D normalize() const;

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Known Limitations

• Windows only (uses Windows.h and conio.h)
• Gnuplot path is hardcoded — update manually if installed elsewhere
• Plot window normalizes all vectors to unit length regardless of original magnitude

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License

This project is open source. Feel free to use, modify, and distribute.