Thread: iostream questions

  1. #1
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    iostream questions

    hey, I'm switching from cstdio to iostream but am having problems finding documentation on what I want to learn. could someone here tell me exactly what cin's sync() and clear() methods do? are they both of type void, do they take any parameters?

    thanks

    edit: I've also two questions about cout's flush method:

    1) why must the buffer be flushed and when is an appropriate time to do this?

    2) is it faster to use endl or "'\n'" with flush?
    Last edited by bryan; 05-18-2004 at 01:24 PM.

  2. #2
    unleashed alphaoide's Avatar
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    1) You wanna make sure that everything that needs to be printed on the screen is printed to the screen. Say you want to print a prompt for user to input something, you want the prompt to display otherwise users don't know what to do staring the black screen
    2) Just guessing: endl.
    source: compsci textbooks, cboard.cprogramming.com, world wide web, common sense

  3. #3
    Registered User Codeplug's Avatar
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    "endl" will flush an output stream, "\n" will not.

    sync() is a member of basic_istream, which you can read about here.
    clear() is a member of basic_ios, which you can read about here.

    You might want to pick up a good standard C++ book if you don't already have one.

    gg

  4. #4
    unleashed alphaoide's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Codeplug
    "endl" will flush an output stream, "\n" will not.
    gg
    The question was which one is faster?
    a) endl
    b) '\n' followed by flush
    source: compsci textbooks, cboard.cprogramming.com, world wide web, common sense

  5. #5
    Registered User Codeplug's Avatar
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    For standard output, the difference is most likely insignificant.
    For wirtting a text file with multiple megs, there may be some value added in letting the OS flush it's file buffers on it's own schedule. But probably not

    gg

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