Microsoft Visual C++/cli step by Step

58  

Microsoft Visual C++/CLI Step by Step

Note  There is no semicolon after the closing parenthesis in the if test. It is a common C++ 

programming error to put one in by mistake, as shown here:

if (number < 0);   // Note the spurious semicolon

This statement is equivalent to the following statement, which is probably not what you 

intended:

if (number < 0) 

    ;   // Null if-body – do nothing if number < 0

If you want to include more than one statement in the if body, enclose the if body in braces 

({}), as follows:

if (number < 0) 

{ 

    Console::Write("The number "); 

    Console::Write(number); 

    Console::WriteLine(" is negative"); 

} 

Console::WriteLine("The end");

Many developers reckon that it is good practice to enclose the if body in braces, even if it 

only consists of a single statement. This means that the code will still be correct if you (or 

another developer) add more statements to the if body in the future.

In this exercise, you will create a new application to perform one-way tests. As this chapter pro-

gresses, you will extend the application to use more complex decision-making constructs and to 

perform loops. For now, the application asks the user to enter a date and then it performs simple 

validation and displays the date in a user-friendly format on the console.