Thread: Need help with a newbie project!

Originally Posted by Elysia

using namespace std;

which essentially tells the compiler: if you can't find this symbol in the global namespace (ie no namespace at all), then look in the std namespace.
So when you type cout, the compiler searches for ::cout (global namespace), then std::cout.

Not quite: it depends on where the using directive is placed. Furthermore, I do not think the "the compiler searches for ::cout (global namespace), then std::cout". Rather, if ::cout also existed, there would be a name collision resulting in an ambiguity that can only be resolved by either removing the using directive or fully qualifying the names.

It reduces the risks for namespace collision. That is, ambiguity where the compiler cannot decide upon if you meant, say, ::foo, or bar::foo.
For example, use the "using namespace std" and then declare a min or max function that takes two ints and returns an int. Then call that. It demonstrates very well the disadvantages of namespace directives.

Originally Posted by Eep

Does not including something like

Code:

using namespace std;

initially have some kind of advantage?

Yes, the advantage is that you don't have to qualify names in the std namespace, which can make code both easier to read and write when many names in the std namespace are used. However, if you are using names that are also in the std namespace and/or have other using directives, then your code could end up easier to write but harder to read because of the possibility of name collision.