C++ comparing a string with an array of strings

Question

if I have:

const string food[] = {"Burgers", "3", "Fries", "Milkshake"}
string word;
cin >> word;

How can I compare word with the correct food? or rather, if the user inputs "Fries", how can I compare that with the string array?

That's correct. If the user enters "Fries" I am trying to figure out how I can compare food[] with word — Jake Smith
– Jake Smith, Commented Sep 11, 2013 at 13:33
An array seems like the wrong structure. I would store the data in a std::map to take advantage of the look-up functionality. — andre
– andre, Commented Sep 11, 2013 at 13:35
Curious if this question is going to bring all the boys to the yard... — T.E.D.
– T.E.D., Commented Sep 11, 2013 at 14:31

Kerrek SB · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-11 13:33:24Z

7

With find:

#include <algorithm>
#include <iterator>

auto it = std::find(std::begin(food), std::end(food), word);

if (it != std::end(food))
{
    // found *it
}
else
{
    // not found
}

answered Sep 11, 2013 at 13:33

Kerrek SB

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Comments

Mike Seymour · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-11 13:41:48Z

3

With the find algorithm from <algorithm>:

auto found = std::find(std::begin(food), std::end(food), word);
if (found == std::end(food)) {
    // not found
} else {
    // found points to the array element
}

or with a loop:

for (const auto &item : food) {
    if (item == word) {
        // found it
    }
}

although, if you need to do this a lot, it might be better to store the items in a data structure designed for quick searches: std::set or std::unordered_set.

edited Sep 11, 2013 at 13:41

answered Sep 11, 2013 at 13:36

Mike Seymour

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