number guessing game

i am new to c++ but i know some other languages. I have been programming in c++ for about 5 hrs now and i am having a problem with my program. when i guess for the first time it is like it doesn't count. no matter what i type it will tell me that my guess is too low. can anyone help me?

#include <cstdlib>
#include <iostream>
#include <ctime>

using namespace std;

int main()
{
long guess = 0, x = 0;
const long MAX = 500, MIN = 1;

srand(time(NULL));
x = (rand() % (MAX - MIN + 1)) + MIN;

while (guess != x)
{
cout<< endl;
cout<<"Enter a number between 1 and 500" << endl;
cin.ignore();
cin>> guess;
cout<<"The secret number is " << x;
if (guess < x) {
cout<<"You was too low, Try again"; }
else if ( guess > x) {
cout<<"You was too high, Try again";}
else {
cout<<"Invalid guess";}
}
}

What is the purpose of cin.ignore()? That is probably what is wrong with your code. Try removing it and see what happens.

Also try printing out the guess:

Code:

---

        if (guess < x){
                cout << "Your guess (" << guess << ") was too low, Try again" << endl; }
       
        else if ( guess > x){
                cout << "Your guess (" << guess << ") was too high, Try again" << endl; }

        else{
                cout << "Invalid guess (" << guess << ")" << endl; }
}

---