Why will this not work? Bad use of IF function?

[Pierce]

Hi guys,

I have just finishing writing a program that simulates the casino game 'Three Card Poker'. I did it by creating an array of objects (my playing cards), shuffling them using a FOR statement, and then dealing them. I had a problem getting the program (compiler?) to recognise 3 of a kind hands however, and although I have solved this problem, I cannot seem to figure out why the first way did not work. I feel as though I am misunderstanding something and wondered if anyone could shed a light onto this.

This is the code that DOES WORK.

             //Three of a Kind 2s
            else if ((pcard1.value == 2) && (pcard2.value == 2) && (pcard3.value == 2))
            {
                playerhandrank = 42;
                bankroll += win*4;
            }

I made multiple ELSE IF statements for each value.

This is what I originally had (below), and the program kept giving back random rankings.

  else if((pcard1.value == pcard2.value) && (pcard1.value == pcard3.value))
     {
          if (pcard1.value == 2)
          {
             playerhandrank = 42;
             bankroll += win*4;
           }

           else if (pcard1.value == 3)
          {
             playerhandrank = 43;
             bankroll += win*4;
           }
    }

Etc etc. I cannot understand why the first code works but the second does not? Am I using bad form and confusing the compiler?!

Thanks very much & apologies for the lengthy post.

[MiiNiPaa]

Can you post a minimal compiling example reproducing your problem?
http://sscce.org/

[helios]

There's nothing wrong with the code you've posted, by itself. There could be something wrong in the code that comes later that trashes the program state.

[Pierce]

MiiNiPaa, the first code compiles:

Player Hand Values = 2, 2, 2
Playerhand rank = 42.

The second compiles exactly the same, however the rank is incorrect for all different 3 of a kind values. i.e I compiled that code just and got the result:

Player Hand Values = 2, 2, 2
Playerhand rank = 7.

I assumed that it was an error in the code but helios suggests that the code is fine, as I originally thought myself. Confused :S

[MiiNiPaa]

MiiNiPaa, the first code compiles:

No it is not: http://ideone.com/u5DqxP
Minimal compiling example means code which we can compile and see your problem for ourselves.
Your code is indeed fine and that why I asked for code.

[Pierce]

Sorry MiiniPaa, I misunderstood. As it turns out I accidentally fell upon the solution whilst doing something else, the problem was using == when equalling pcard1.value to pcard3.value. Using just = made it work, although i'm not sure why. Ill research operators some more to see if there is a reason for that. Thanks very much for the replies.

[helios]

= doesn't compare the operands. It sets the variable on the left to the value on right and the whole expression evaluates to the value on the right. (x = y) == y regardless of the value of x.