How to code basic calculation without if statements?

[hereticforlife]

Hey guys, I'm just starting out and trying to build a rudimentary calculation program. Users input two numbers and an operand in one function, and the next function uses if statements to determine what to do next, as shown below:

#include "stdafx.h"
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int x;
int y;
char z;

int readNumber()
{
	cout << "Input integer 1\n";
	cin >> x;
	cout << "Input integer 2\n";
	cin >> y;
	cout << "Input operand\n";
	cin >> z;
	return 0;
}

int writeAnswer(int x, int y, char z)
{
	int Answer;
	if (z == '+')
		Answer = x + y;
	if (z == '-')
		Answer = x - y;
	if (z == '*')
		Answer = x * y;
	if (z == '/')
		Answer = x / y;
	cout << x << " " << z << " " << y << " = " << Answer << endl;
	return 0;
}

int main()
{
	readNumber();
	writeAnswer(x, y, z);
	return 0;
}

Is there any way to structure it differently so that C++ recognizes the operand and applies it to the two integers on its own, or is the process above really the simplest way to go about it?

[obscure]

You can use switch statement ...

switch(z)
{
case'+' :
Answer = x + y;
break;
case'-':
Answer = x - y ; 
break ; 
case'*':
Answer = x * y ;
break;
case'/':
Answer = x / y;
}

or nested if else

if (z == '+')
	Answer = x + y;
else if (z == '-')
	Answer = x - y;
else if (z == '*')
	Answer = x * y;
else if (z == '/')
	Answer = x / y;

[MiiNiPaa]

Or do this functional style:

#include <iostream>
#include <map>
#include <functional>

double calculate(double first, double second, char op)
{
    static const std::map<char, std::function<double(double, double)>>  action = {
        {'+', std::plus<double>()},       {'-', std::minus<double>()},
        {'*', std::multiplies<double>()}, {'/', std::divides<double>()},
    };
    if(action.find(op) != action.end())
        return action.at(op)(first, second);
    else
        return 0.0/0.0;
}

int main()
{
    double first, second;
    char op;
    while(std::cin >> first >> op >> second)
        std::cout << calculate(first, second, op) << '\n';
}

[hereticforlife]

Huh, didn't even know about some of these statement types. Thanks! :)