Confused Beginner - hangman game

This is pretty much my first attempt at anything in C++. I started off writing code in HTML then PHP now I've moved on to C++.

Specifically in this, I am having a problem with the menu function. When you compile and run the code and hit x + enter or any other letter, it loops -- endlessly. I'm having trouble figuring it out, any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Code:

// Hangman

#include <iostream>
#include <string>

using namespace std;
void menu();

string make_display_word(string s) {
    string t = "";
    for (int i = 0; i < s.size(); i++)
    t += '_';
    return t;
}

bool check_entries(string entry) {
    for(int i=0; i<entry.size(); i++) {
    if(isalpha(entry[i])) {
    } else { return false;
    }
    }
    return true;
}

void play(string word, string guesses, string correct) {
        char guess;
        cout << "Please guess a letter, the word is " << word.size() << " letters long\n\n";
        cin >> guess;
        if(!(isalpha(guess))) { cout << "You must enter only letters\n\n"; play(word, guesses, correct); } // check if guessed char is only a letter.
        if(int(guesses.find(guess))<0) {
        if(int(word.find(guess))<0) {
            guesses += guess;
            cout << "Wrong Guesses: " << guesses << "\n\n";
        } else {
            for(int j=0; j < word.size(); j++) {
                if(word[j]==guess) { correct[j]=guess; }
            }
            if(word==correct) { cout << "\nCongratulations you have the right word!  " << correct << "\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n";  exit(0); } else {
            cout << "\"" << guess << "\" is a correct guess!\n" << "What you have so far: " << correct << endl << endl;
        }
        }
        } else {
            cout << "You already guessed that letter!\n\n";
            play(word, guesses, correct);
        }
        play(word, guesses, correct);

}



void begin_play() {
        string word;
        string guesses = "";
        cout << "Please enter the word for the game  ";
        cin >> word;
        if(check_entries(word)==false) { cout << "You must enter only letters.\n"; begin_play(); }
        play(word, guesses, make_display_word(word));
}

void menu() {
    int menuchoice;  // Input for menu selection
    cout << "1. Play!\n2. Instructions\n3. Rules\n\n";
    cin >> menuchoice;
    switch(menuchoice) {
        case 1:
            begin_play();
            break;
        case 2:
            cout << "Instructions to follow soon.\n\n\n\n";
            menu();
            break;
        case 3:
            cout << "Rules to follow soon.\n\n\n\n";
            menu();
            break;
        default:
            cout << "Please select a menu choice.\n\n\n\n\n\n";
            menu();
    }
    }


int main()
{
    cout << "Welcome to Hangman!\n\n";
    menu(); // calls menu function
    return 0;
}

Code:

void menu() {
    int menuchoice;  // Input for menu selection
    cout << "1. Play!\n2. Instructions\n3. Rules\n\n";
    cin >> menuchoice;
    switch(menuchoice) {

The character X is not an integer. Your switch case statement is switching based off an integer value. There was a thread similar to this one posted recently discussing how to get around this. One way is to make sure the input is a digit with isdigit().

edit: here... Some help for a Noobie!

The problem is that if you enter any non-integer value, the stream will go into "error mode." In this mode, it will simply refuse to read any data until you clear the error and flush the stream.
There are two usual ways around this: either flush the input buffer, or read a string and convert it to appropriate type.
There should be lots of examples of both floating around the board.

Ok, I searched around a found a solution by placing the cin.clear() and cin.ignore after the cin >> line. It needs both there, and in this order for it to work.

Code:

    cin >> menuchoice;
    cin.clear();
    cin.ignore();
    switch(menuchoice) {

Does this happen to everyone and they have to find solutions as well? Or is it from a lack of ability in my coding? I guess I am wondering if this is human error (ie: me) causing the error or it would happen to any programmer -- most just know what to do to avoid such things?

Originally Posted by goodfornothing

Does this happen to everyone and they have to find solutions as well?

Yes

Originally Posted by goodfornothing

Or is it from a lack of ability in my coding?

No, and in fact being able to come up with a solution shows that you have some coding ability

That said, cin.ignore() just ignores one character from the buffer. To properly ignore what is remaining on the buffer, you need to call it with more arguments.

Another way of handling this is to read into a std::string using std::getline(), then initialise a stringstream with that string, and only then extract the desired value from the stringstream.