Initializing an array? what is goin on

[lilrayray]

I have done far more work in C then C++, but I decide to take a look at C++. Wen you create an array say:

char b[5];

What do you use to initialize it?

If i do:

char b[5] = 'a','b','c','d','e'; //as it would be done in C

I get an invalid initializer error.
If I do it like this:

char b[5] = "abcde";

it says it is to many characters.

How stupid am I being?

[hk_mp5kpdw]

If i do:

char b[5] = 'a','b','c','d','e'; //as it would be done in C

I get an invalid initializer error.

That's not how you do it in C. In C/C++ you do this:

char b[5] = { 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e' };

If I do it like this:

char b[5] = "abcde";

it says it is to many characters.

Yes, for strings such as that, you are forgetting the null character at the end. That would require 6 characters, not 5:

char b[6] = "abcde";

[lilrayray]

Oh, forgot the brackets. Thanks for the help, a null character, hmmm.

[Daved]

C style strings use a character array to store the string data, but they add a null character to the end in order to indicate the size of the string (otherwise you would always have to have a separate variable that remembered the string length).

If you intend your character array to be used as a string (e.g. to write to cout or use functions like strcmp), then you need the null character. If you are just using an array of five characters and you aren't using any functionality specific to strings, you are fine with the original 5 character array.

Of course, if you were trying to work with strings, you wouldn't want to use C style strings anyway, you would use the C++ standard string class.

[Salem]

> char b[5] = "abcde";
C allows you to silently drop the \0 from a string containing exactly the right number of characters. C++ does not.

It's usual to just leave the brackets empty if you just want to initialise the array with as many characters as there are in the string.

[mburt]

C++ arrays are similar to JavaScript arrays, except you define the array's variables as you use them.

[lilrayray]

Is the C++ string have any efficiency differences then the C-style string?

[mburt]

I didn't see any.

[SlyMaelstrom]

Well, if you consider the fact that you don't have to check bounds all of the time to prevent segmentation faults. Erasing characters is also much more efficient.

[lilrayray]

alright, and one more question (I think), can you access an individual character from a string like you can with an array?

[mburt]

I seriously doubt that.

First you have to define string: #include<string>

ex:

string mystring = "poopiepants";

[SlyMaelstrom]

I seriously doubt that.

First you have to define string: #include<string>

ex:

string mystring = "poopiepants";

How does that make it less efficient, exactly?

alright, and one more question (I think), can you access an individual character from a string like you can with an array?

Yes, you can. The string object has an overloaded subscript operator that works exactly like an array

std::string foo = "Hello World!";

for(int i = 0; i < foo.size(); i++)
   std::cout << foo[i];

[mburt]

Got it. The only downside is that you have to store the binary number in an array.

See this:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main() {
int number[] = {1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0};
int count = 0;
for (int i=0;i<=8;i++) {
if (number[i]==1) {count++;};
};
cout << count;
system("PAUSE");
}

[lilrayray]

Hmm strings seam nice. I almost feel like i am betraying C.

[laserlight]

Got it. The only downside is that you have to store the binary number in an array.

Sounds like you intended to reply to counting 1's in a binary byte. If so, the bitset idea suggested by twomers is the way to go, considering that it has a count member function.