Pythagorean Theorem solver

[pwnedu46]

I've just started learning how to program C++ about a day or two ago, and made a simple pythagorean theorem solver.

#include <iostream>
#include <math.h>                 // C math library
using namespace std;

int main ()
{
    float a, b, result;
    while ((a > 0) & (b > 0)); 
       {
       cout << "\n Please input side the two side lengths";
       cin >> a >> b;
       result = sqrt((a*a)+(b*b));
       cout << "\n The hypotenuse length is: " << (result);
       }
       return 0;
}

I compiled it and the program ran, but nothing appeared on the screen except a flashy underscore indicating it's waiting for an input. When I tried entering a value, nothing appeared on the screen. Does anyone know why this happened?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[hamsterman]

I can't explain the behavior of your console, but I do know what's wrong.
1. ; on line 8. that means a empty loop.
2. you compare a and b to 0 before they were set. Behavior is not defined here. a do while loop would work better here.

little problems:
3. there is a difference between & and &&. & is a bitwise operator, meaning that it does to every pair of bits of two numbers what && does to two booleans. In this case the result is the same, but just so that you know..
4. you don't need so many parentheses. while(a > 0 && b > 0), sqrt(a*a+b*b), cout << result are all fine.

[pwnedu46]

Thanks hamsterman! It is working perfectly now, I think the console just froze up somewhere on the while loop.