some things from a new bie

[Chs]

i finally got my book! now i can basic-basic-basic c++!

some question

1. whats the diff betwen char and char* ?

2. how to conv a char* to a char

the task:

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main()
{

time_t tempchar;
tempchar = time(NULL);

char* timetemp
timetemp=ctime(&tempchar);  // whats that '&' sybol doing anyway?

char timestr
// nows the error
timestr=timetemp
// how to do? i know there are diff of types...

cout << timestr

{

PLZ HELP!

***! Why doesnt this stupid tag work?

[The Hobo]

The tag is [code]code[/code]

1. char * is a pointer, not a character variable. It holds the memory address of a character variable. If you're just starting with C++, you might want to stay away from that until you get a better handle.

The & is the 'address of' operator. It sets the pointer equal to the address of a variable. Ie:

char money = '\0';
char *pmoney = NULL;

money = '$'; 
pmoney = &money; //pmoney = address of money

[The Hobo]

oh yeah...

2. You can't convert char * to char. One is a pointer, the other is a character variable.

[CornedBee]

As The Hobo said: stay away from pointers, they don't belong to the basic-basic-basic C++ part. Actually they don't even belong to the basic-basic C++ parts, and only the special uses of char * (pointers to characters) belong to the basic C++ part.

For now if you need strings use the string class, which is defined in the <string> header:

#include <string>
using namespace std;

The & (address-of) operator belongs to pointers.
There is another meaning of &, but it isn't basic either.

[CornedBee]

There are a few additional things you should remember.
a) Use [ code] ... [/ code] tags to wrap your C++ code when posting here. We all hate you if you don't

b) Watch your semicolons. You must terminate every command in C++ with a ;
if you don't the compiler assumes the command continues in the next line. It's like the opposite of the _ at the end of a line in VB.

[The Hobo]

Originally posted by CornedBee
There are a few additional things you should remember.
a) Use [ code] ... [/ code] tags to wrap your C++ code when posting here. We all hate you if you don't

b) Watch your semicolons. You must terminate every command in C++ with a ;
if you don't the compiler assumes the command continues in the next line. It's like the opposite of the _ at the end of a line in VB.

Unless it's a directive or ends in a brace { or }

[CornedBee]

Preprocessor directives are not C or C++ commands...

Yeah, some statements, like if, while, for, ... (every condition or loop statement) usually aren't terminated by ;, else they woud behave incorrectly.

[The Hobo]

Originally posted by CornedBee
Preprocessor directives are not C or C++ commands...

Sorry. I didn't meant to upset you...

[CornedBee]

Why do you think I am upset? I just corrected you.

[Chs]

My book says "Now u have compled Week 1, and u can now program and understand advanced programs"

[parksie]

Heh. Unlikely.

It takes years to understand advanced programs

[CornedBee]

"Advanced" from the first week's point of view.

[CornedBee]

The interesting thing about programming is that it's usually easier to write advanced programs than understanding them. At least for code like that written by most programmers, only rarely is code written so well and commented so thoroughly that it is easier to understand than to read.