Another Problem

[john924xps]

Do we HAVE to include the quotation marks ("") when we are comparing string literals or setting it while declaring a variable? Example, I have a variable named "happy", and happy's data is 'notsohappy'. but then I want to set "mood" to happy, this is the code anybody would use:

mood=happy;

But won't that set mood into notsohappy? Thats not wat I want. All I want is something so that it sets mood to happy, not inheriting from the VARIABLE! Is it the only way to make a significance between these two is to include the ""? Ah... makes sense! ANd does this rule apply to the if and while statements as well?

if (happy==happy)
if (happy=="happy")
while (happy==happy)
while (happy=="happy")

See significance? Can anybody correct me and tell me If Im wrong in any part?
Thanks. Note to self: One C++ program per week :)

[o3hC5Di1]

Hi there,

You're confusing the variable identifier (its name) with its actual data.
Mostly because you are using ambiguous naming here.

What you would presumably do in this case is something like:

string mood, happy, unhappy;
happy = "happy";
unhappy = "unhappy";
mood = happy;

// another thing someone might do in this case
//where you have 2 options which are opposites is following:
bool happy;
string mood;
if (happy == true) { mood = "happy as can be"; }
else { mood = "sad puppy face"; }

So it's important to separate a name from its data, the name is merely wha you use in your code to refer to the data which it points to, ie int number = 3;, number is the name you use in the program to refer to the number 3 in this case. When handling raw data, such as a constant string, enclosed in quotation marks, you do need to use the quotation marks to tell the compiler te difference between data and a variable identifier.

For instance, consider these cases:

int number = 3;
string strnum = "number";
if (strnum == number) //this will be false, because "number" is not equal to 3
if (strnum == "number") //this will be true 

Hope that helps.

All the best,
NwN