Issue with the suffix increment operator(++) in a cout statement.

Hello, I am teaching myself C++ as a hobby and I encountered an example in the book which compiles but does not produce the intended output.
Here is the code:

// Ex8_09.cpp
// Creating and joining string objects
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
using std::cin;
using std::cout;
using std::endl;
using std::string;
using std::getline;

// List names and ages
void listnames(string names[], string ages[], size_t count)
{
size_t i = 0;
cout << endl << "The names you entered are: " << endl;
while(i<count && !names[i].empty())
cout << names[i] + " aged " + ages[i++] + '.' << endl;
}

int main()
{
const size_t count = 100;
string names[count];
string ages[count];
string firstname;
string secondname;

for(size_t i = 0 ; i<count ; i++)
{
cout << endl << "Enter a first name or press Enter to end: ";
getline(cin, firstname, '\n');
if(firstname.empty())
{
listnames(names, ages, i);
cout << "Done!!" << endl;
return 0;
}

cout << "Enter a second name: ";
getline(cin, secondname, '\n');

names[i] = firstname + ' ' + secondname;
cout << "Enter " + firstname + "'s age: ";
getline(cin, ages[i], '\n');
}
cout << "No space for more names." << endl;
listnames(names, ages, count);
return 0;
}

I may be wrong, but the problem seems to be in the function "listnames". Specifically, the output statement inside the while loop. I don't understand
how the ++ operator is behaving in this statement. The output produced does not match what's printed in the book. I usually just type all the
examples, but with this one I also downloaded the source code from the book's website to make sure the error wasn't due to mistyping. I would
greatly appreciate any help that would explain what is going on.
appreciate

Quote:

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Originally Posted by luisdtor

Hello, I am teaching myself C++ as a hobby and I encountered an example in the book which compiles but does not produce the intended output.

---

That is because there is no "intended output" with that cout statement.

First, please use code tags when posting code. The code you posted is almost unreadable.

Second:

Code:

---

  cout << names[i] + " aged " + ages[i++] + '.' << endl;

---

This is ambiguous as to when i will be incremented. Describe to us when you think i is incremented. Whatever it is, another person will say something different as to when i is incremented, thus you and the other person give different results. That is exactly the situation between the compiler your book used and the compiler that you're using now -- ambiguity.

In C++, there is something called sequence points. Basically, adjusting the same variable more than once within the same statement (i.e. sequence point) is undefined behaviour. So there is no answer as to what that statement should output. It is no different than this:

Code:

---

int i = 0;
cout << i++ + ++i;

---

So what should be outputted for "i"?

Quote:

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The output produced does not match what's printed in the book.

---

What book is this? No good C++ book would present code like this, unless the book's intent is to show you an ambiguous usage of the ++ operator.

Edit: It seems you copied the example wrong from this book:

http://books.google.com/books?id=H1w...ed=0CDMQ6AEwAQ

Regards,

Paul McKenzie

I've not read all the code ( please, next time use [ code ] ... [ /code ] tags ) nor I have run it, but the line "cout << names[i] + " aged " + ages[i++] + '.' << endl; " in the function "listnames()" gives undefined behavior, so the program could behave inconsistently with respect to the 'i' variable value, or could behave normally, or could even crash ( well, in theory, at least ).

Essentially, you cannot read and write more than once a scalar object ( = an int, a pointer, etc... ) in the same expression.
More precisely, the technical reason depends on to which c++ standard you're compiling against.
In c++2003, observable effects of evaluation of expressions ( called "side effects" ) are sequenced at precise subexpressions ( called "sequence points" ), like the ";" at the and of a full subexpression, or a function call, etc... . Invoking more than one side effect on a scalar object in between two consecutive sequence points gives undefined behavior.
In c++11, the sequencing of side effects obeys to a more general model ( a multithreaded abstract machine ); anyway, the situation is similar : invoking more than one unsequenced side effects on a scalar object gives undefined behavior.

So, things like "i=i++", "i++ + i++", etc... all have undefined behavior in C++.

Now, your specific case is a bit more subtle because the 'i' accesses are separated by a number of function calls ( the +operators ) whose evaluation is sequenced with respect to their arguments ( although their evaluation order remains unspecified ). Nonetheless, the language requires that the condition described above of an unsequenced multiple read/write on a scalar object will give undefined behavior whenever it holds for some possible arrangement of the evaluation tree.

EDIT: sorry, I missed Paul's reply ...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by luisdtor

I may be wrong, but the problem seems to be in the function "listnames". Specifically, the output statement inside the while loop. I don't understand
how the ++ operator is behaving in this statement. The output produced does not match what's printed in the book. I usually just type all the
examples, but with this one I also downloaded the source code from the book's website to make sure the error wasn't due to mistyping. I would
greatly appreciate any help that would explain what is going on.
appreciate

---

If this code is presented as an example in your book, then get rid of it and find yourself a good book.
Besides the undefined behavior pointed out in previous posts, the logic of the while loop is also flawed.

Code:

---

  size_t i = 0;
  while(i<count && !names[i].empty()) {
    // print something
    ++i;
  }

---

What do you think would happen if names had, say, 3 items and the second is an emtpy string?

When you loop over a container whose size is not changed in the loop, it's typically best to use a for-loop. It makes it easier to avoid these kinds of problems.

Thank you all for the help. After I studied your replies and researched a bit on sequence points in C++, I think I understand. Let me put it in my own words and please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. In the statement "cout << names[i] + " aged " + ages[i++] + '.' << endl; ", the array sub-scripting operator [] is overloaded for the standard string class. Overloaded operators are implicit function calls. So the above code statement can be written in a more general form: "cout << f() + pstr1 + g() + pstr2 << endl;". According to the rules of C++ sequence points, in any expression "f() + g()" where f and g are functions, the order in which f and g are evaluated is ambiguous. The value of i that is passed into these functions depends on the order that they're evaluated in. But if the order is ambiguous, then the result of the entire statement is undefined.

In case you're curious, the book I am using is "Ivor Horton’s Beginning Visual C++ 2008", and the code in question is on page 474.