Why am i getting wrong ans(rather 2 different answers) when comparing 2 strings

Question

When normally comparing the string this way:

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main()
{
    string a = "yb";
    string b = "ya";
    cout<<(a>b);

    return 0;
}

result comes out 1. Which is right.

But when performing the same operation in this way:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
    cout<<("yb">"ya");

    return 0;
}

result is coming out 0.

How is this possible?

In the second case, you aren't comparing `std::string` objects but `const char*` pointers. — Adrian Mole, Jun 04 '22 at 12:47
`("yb">"ya");` just compares two `const char*` pointers, not `std::string` instances. You may change that to `cout<<("yb"s>"ya"s);` to get it working as intended. — πάντα ῥεῖ, Jun 04 '22 at 12:48
Does this answer your question? [C++ Comparison of String Literals](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/27450021/c-comparison-of-string-literals) — ChrisMM, Jun 04 '22 at 13:14

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 04 '22 at 12:50

"yb" and "ya" have type char const[3]; they are arrays located somewhere in the memory containing the chars in the string literal and the terminating 0 char.

When doing ("yb">"ya") those objects decay to char const* and you're comparing pointers. Where the data is stored is compiler implementation defined and you cannot rely on the result.

To compare std::strings, you'd need to write

std::cout<<(std::string("yb")>std::string("ya"));

instead.

Why am i getting wrong ans(rather 2 different answers) when comparing 2 strings

1 Answers1