Output of C++ code

Question

Why does it output 0 and not 1?

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {
char a[]="tashkent";
char b[9]="tashkent";
cout << a << endl << b << endl;
cout << (int)(a==b); //why 0 and not 1?
return 0;
}

Answer 1

Edward Finkelstein

Because you are not comparing value you are comparing reference and both character array have different reference.

Answer 2

Use strcmp() from <cstring> if you want to compare content of C-string for equality/inequality.

http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/cstring/strcmp/

Comparing *a and *b only compares the first character of C-string <a> and <b>, the rest are not compared so the result is not valid.

You are coding in C++, I'd recommend to use std::string instead of C-string.

Answer 3

Ah ok, you are right. So I apply the dereferncing operator and then I get 1 😀

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {
char a[]="tashkent";
char b[9]="tashkent";
cout << a << endl << b << endl;
cout << (int)(*a==*b);
return 0;
}

Answer 4

Ipang
Yeah of course, thanks. This was from some challenge. Personally I never use c-strings unless I really have no other choice.