declaring an array of n elements based on input

the compiler complains about an integral constant for the array declaration.

can it be done like this or do i have to use a pointer to set up the array ?

i know this code is absolutely useless but i'd like to know for theoretical purposes.

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void create(const int);

main()
{
int size;

cin << "Enter a number: " << size;

create(size);

return 0;
}

void create(const int max)
{
int array1[max];
}

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first error you have is your input/output. use cin >> only for input and cout<< for output

cout<< "Enter a number: ";
cin >> size;

second error your function decleration does not match your function. change it to this:

void create(const int max);

the program with these changes will work, but the array will not be accessable from main, unless you declare the array in main. then you can pass a pointer or a reference of the array to the function.

You can't have a static array based on a variable number of elements in standard C++ (it must be a compile time constant). Here are a couple of alternatives -

Code:

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#include <vector>
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;


int main()
{
        int size;

        cout<< "Enter a number: ";
        cin >> size;

        //either

        int* array1 = new int[size];
        // do stuff
        delete [] array1;

        //or

        vector<int> array2(size);

        return 0;
}

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