Thread: How to make this use a enum

I'm currently reading Beginning C++ Through Game Development, 2nd Edition and there's an exercise that reads like this: "Rewrite the Menu Chooser program from this chapter using an enumeration to represent difficulty levels. The variable choice will still be of type int."

I need some help solving this exercise. Here's the code for Menu Chooser:

Code:

// Menu Chooser
// Demonstrates the switch statement

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() 
{
	cout << "Difficulty Levels\n\n";
	cout << "1 - Easy\n";
	cout << "2 - Normal\n";
	cout << "3 - Hard\n\n";

	int choice;
	cout << "Choice: ";
	cin >> choice;

	switch (choice)
	{
	case 1:	
			cout << "You picked Easy.\n";
			break;
	case 2:	
			cout << "You picked Normal.\n";
			break;
	case 3:	
			cout << "You picked Hard.\n";
			break;
	default:
			cout << "You made an illegal choice.\n";
	}

    return 0;
}

Code:

enum GAMEMODE
{
   EASY,
   NORMAL,
   HARD
};

switch(choice)
{
 case EASY:
   //bla bla
 case NORMAL:
   //bla bla
  case HARD:
   //bla bla
}

that is how it works. you need to figure out where to put it all

I want to be able to understand enums better, so I have some questions:

• How does the switch use the enum if they werent connected in any way?
• Why do I need to decrease the value of choice in order to get the correct value?
• How would I use a enum variable in this situation?
• What are the exact benefits of an enum as opposed to plain constants?

Sorry about all the questions, you dont have to answer all of them at once.

>> How does the switch use the enum if they werent connected in any way?
An enum is just an integral value, which is all the switch needs. Each enum item represents some integer, so it works the same as your original code.

>> Why do I need to decrease the value of choice in order to get the correct value?
The default values for enums start with 0 and increment by 1, so EASY has a value of 0. You could change this by using:

Code:

enum GAMEMODE {EASY=1,MEDIUM,HARD};

>> How would I use a enum variable in this situation?
Use GAMEMODE as the type instead of int. You might have problems reading into a GAMEMODE with cin, but you can use it in other ways.

>> What are the exact benefits of an enum as opposed to plain constants?
The enum automatically orders the constants for you, making maintenance easier. It also creates a separate type that can enforce some extra rules.

Thank you very much, you answered my questions very well