cin to accept null value on 'enter'

im writing a program with a function power() thats asks the user for a number, and the number of times it needs to be multiplied by itself, with a default of squaring the number if the argument is ommited. but if i dont enter a value the program stalls and doesnt execute. my question is, how to get cin to accept nothing when hitting enter and continue with the rest of the statements?

heres what i have in main:

Code:

int main()
{
	double number;
	int times;

	cout << "Enter in a number:  "; cin >> number;
	cout << "Enter the times to be multiplied by itself:  "; cin >> times;
	cout << "Result = " << power(number, times) << endl;
	return 0;
}

once this code hits 'cin >> times' and i just hit enter with no value, the program stalls. thanks in advance.

One way is to use getline, and then just parse the string.

Code:

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

int main()
{
    double number = 0.0;
    int times = 2;

    cout << "Enter in a number:  ";
    cin >> number;
    cin.ignore(100, '\n'); // Ignore extra characters after the number, including the newline.
                           // This is necessary if you mix >> and getline.

    cout << "Enter the times to be multiplied by itself:  ";
    string input;
    getline(cin, input);

    if (!input.empty())
    {
        istringstream istr(input);
        istr >> times;
    }

    cout << "number = " << number << endl;
    cout << "times = " << times << endl;
    return 0;
}

thanks. i look into that code. =)