Turbo C++ help. Computer Interaction

hello everyone, i'm a college student and am starting to tackle C++
i'm supposed to create a program that looks like the computer is talking to the user. here is my source code:

Code:

/*Computer AI*/
#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>
main()
{/*start of program*/
int age;
char nickname[10];
clrscr();
printf ("What's your name?");
scanf ("%s", &nickname);
printf ("Hello %s.", &nickname);
printf ("\nHow old are you?");
scanf ("%d", &age);
printf ("you're %d yrs old?", &age);
getch();
return(0);
}

every time i run the program -12 always shows as the age why is that??
please help thanks!!

Code:

printf ("you're %d yrs old?", &age);

Is incorrect, you are printing the ADDRESS of age, not the value of age.

--
Mats

When you print things, you pass values to printf, not pointers.

When you input strings with scanf, you shouldn't pass a pointer to pointer (don't take the address of the string).

By the way, this is nothing but antiquated, non-standard C. There is absolutely no C++ code here.

In C++ this code would be:

Code:

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
    int age;
    string nickname;

    cout << "What's your name? ";
    cin >> nickname;
    cout << "Hello " << nickname << ".";
    cout << "\nHow old are you? ";
    cin >> age;
    cout << "you're " << age << " yrs old?";
    cin.ignore();
    cin.get();
    return 0;
}

If you can, I also do suggest you dump Turbo C/C++, because it's old and not very standards compliant.
Some good alternatives: http://cpwiki.sf.net/IDE

i'm supposed to create a program that looks like the computer is talking to the user.

Many years ago I had a copy of ELIZA and the BASIC source code... It was kind-of fun to "play with" at first, then it would get annoying... Ond one of my coworkers discovered that it would react to foul language!

It's a little advanced for an absolute beginner-programmer, but it's something you could handle by the end of your first semester. I don't remember exactly, but the version I had was something like several-hundred lines (or maybe a few thousand lines) of BASIC... not an overwhelming amount of code, and nothing too complex... Mostly just a bunch of "if-statements". For example, if the user types in "mother" or "father", ask something about parents or family, etc.

The very first thing you can do is ditch Turbo C++. It's far too old to be used as a modern compiler.

And yet a whole subcontinent -- at least -- of users are being taught on TC.

Originally Posted by Bubba

The very first thing you can do is ditch Turbo C++. It's far too old to be used as a modern compiler.

+1 for that! There are at least two free compilers with great IDEs (in my opinion): Dev-c++ is a free download, version 4.9.9.2. Macrosoft is giving away Visual c++ Express for the mere trouble of registering with them. I got both of these in the last couple of weeks, and they're better than what I remember of Turbo c++... which is, admittedly, long ago.

Does Turbo c++ still use all the conio console i/o? If they do, and if you're just determined to use it, there was a good book called the Turbo C Survival Guide. It was out of print ten years ago... but might be around in some used bookstore.

Bubba's right!

TC++ relies on a real-mode environment which on Windows XP is simulated at best and completely different at it's worst. Some things you used to be able to do in TC++ you can no longer do b/c of XP. You are programming in an environment that is both unreliable and unsupported.

There is NO excuse to use TC++ when Microsoft Visual C++ Express Edition is available and when Microsoft offers discounts to uni's for MSVS Standard. Every school out there that wants to teach C++ should at least have MSVS standard. MSVS runs under Windows and is in a 32-bit protected mode environment. It supports multi-threading, the STL, templates, and a whole lot more that TC++ doesn't have. Not to mention that most businesses out there will either have MSVS or some other 32-bit PM IDE that runs under Windows.