My program exits on me right away!

[Sintu]

Hi,
I just started programming three days ago and I am having a little problem. When I run a program I have made that doesnt require any input (like Hello World!), the DOS window will open and close with a second. I have found the only way to prevent this is to use this bit of code...

 
#include <iostream>

unsigned short t;

int main ()
{
    std::cout<<"Press any key followed by enter to exit\n";
    std::cin >> t;
    
    return 0;
}

Help?

[RealityFusion]

 
#include <iostream>

unsigned short t;

int main ()
{
    std::cout<<"Press any key followed by enter to exit\n";
    std::cin >> t;
   
    system("PAUSE");
 
    return 0;
}

Help?
not the best way but it works

[Sintu]

What do you mean not the best? It works great! Plus it displays that cool "Press any key to continue..." line of text! Thank you!

[RealityFusion]

I think it is system and compiler specific function....not to sure.

A more common way would be to use cin.get() instead.

[sunnypalsingh]

system command is not a portable code...go for this

#include <iostream>
#include <limits>

using namespace std;

int main()
{
  // Your code here

  // Clean up the stream and ask for input
  cin.ignore ( numeric_limits<streamsize>::max(), '\n' );
  cin.get();
}

[aznboi]

lol using system("PAUSE") would br much shorter

[Dweia]

But system("pause") would only work on a limited range of computers. Try using it on a mac and it won't work.

The other version will work on any platform.

[Sintu]

system command is not a portable code...go for this

#include <iostream>
#include <limits>

using namespace std;

int main()
{
  // Your code here

  // Clean up the stream and ask for input
  cin.ignore ( numeric_limits<streamsize>::max(), '\n' );
  cin.get();
}

Lol, I understand about 25% of that code. Just started programming four days ago... Thanks for the help!

[dra]

lol using system("PAUSE") would br much shorter

never use the system function. It invokes another program do the "pausing" for you. It's not standard C++ so it's makes your code less portable.

[sean]

never use the system function.

I wouldn't say that - but in this specific case it is a bad idea - for more details and a correct explanation you can refer to the programming tips section of the website.

[sunnypalsingh]

Use this then....if you couldn't understood previous solution but don't use system

#include <stdio.h>

intmain(int argc, char **argv)
{
  printf ("Press ENTER to continue.\n");
  getchar (); /* wait for input */
  return 0;
}

[nickname_changed]

Man you guys are fussy fuss pots. If his application is only for Windows, and it only prints Hello World, then surely the system() function is OK? I mean, sure, he COULD port 'Hello World' to Linux, but I don't think theres a lot of reason to do so.

I'm sure it's a better practice to stay platform independant and stick to the standard library as much as possible, but theres time to learn that later - I think for now system("pause") is fine.