Program Stops Responding.

I'm having a problem with my program deciding to stop responding. The program is as follows:

Code:

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#include <iostream.h>
main()
{
    char * q = new char [100];
    char * i = new char [30];
    char * a = new char [30];
    q = new char [100]; i = new char [30]; a = new char [30];
    q = "What is 2 + 2?\n";
    cout << q;
    cin >> i;
    a = "4";
    if (i == a)
        cout << "Correct.\n";
    else
        cout << "No, answer is " << a << ".\n";
    delete q; delete i; delete a;
}

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The program has a simple purpose: the goal is to have it be a sort of study guide. It will also be the first program I use new or delete in.

I had a similar problem awhile back when I learned the basics of normal C. I would forget the ampersand before my inputs in scanf and it would stop responding in the exact same way, but I didn't use scanf here.

I'm not certain, ut I think it's a similar problem with using new. Removing the delete command didn't fix it.

If it matters, I use the Digital Mars compiler, which is run from the command line, cmd.

EDIT: I have made a small modification so that the first 3 lines no longer make it so that memory for the strings is allocated twice, it now says this:
[CODE]char * q; char * i; char * a;[CODE]
Also, I thought it might help to mention that I don't get any errors or warnings. I don't see a problem, but there clearly is one. I don't tthink my program would just quit responding like that.

there's a number of things that are a little bit off about this program.

1. you cannot compare c-style strings (char*) using the == operator. you need to use strcmp().

2. when you delete an array of objects, you cannot simply say delete q; you must say delete[] q; so it knows to delete ALL the elements of the array.

3. you're calling new twice on each array, leaking the memory from the first time.

4. when you say q = "What is 2 + 2?\n"; you are leaking the memory allocated with new. if you wish to assign data to a pre-allocated char buffer, you must use strcpy().

5. you will also likely get compiler warnings with the assignment in line 8, because C++ does not like to assign a const char array to a non-const char pointer.

6. main() should be int main(). and at the end you need to have a return value. C++ does not allow implicit return value types in function declarations.

7. <iostream.h> should be simply <iostream> using iostream.h is non-standard, and should be avoided at all costs. if you are using a compiler (borland) that does not accept <iostream> then you need to find a modern compiler like visual C++ or G++.

To add, line 8 is perfectly fine from a language standpoint. Due to backwards compatibility, it will compile without warnings, but it's wrong , as Elkvis has pointed out.

>>cin >> i;
Completely and utterly unsafe. Prone to buffer overflows. Never do this! Use std::string and std::getline instead!

>>a = "4";
Same as line 8!

And finally, time to upgrade. Get rid of that old compiler and get a modern one.
Visual C++ (Visual Studio is the accompanying IDE) and GCC are good choices.

Thanks for your help, both of you. I'll be making the appropriate adjustments to the program, and hopefully it will respond.

One question though, what's wrong with my compiler?

EDIT: Apparently my compiler doesn't accept plain iostream. I'm downloading Visual C++ now.

EDIIT: I've narrowed it down to the compiler only having problems with lvalues and being unable to open <iostream>. Now I'm just going to wait until visual C++ is done installing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KittenAqua

One question though, what's wrong with my compiler?

EDIT: Apparently my compiler doesn't accept plain iostream. I'm downloading Visual C++ now.

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That by itself says everything. The compiler is so old it doesn't even support the C++03 standard, much less the newest C++11 standard.

as of right now, GCC/G++ has the most complete support for C++11, although it's still lacking a few things I want to try out.