Question

Given the fragment below, What will happen if the user types 2 and 3instead of 2 3 ?

int x, y;
cout << "Give 2 numbers: ";
cin >> x >> y;
cout << x << " " << y;
(a) Prints 2 0
(b) Prints 2 3
(c) Prints 2 2
(d) Same output.

Answer 1

The incorrect input '2and3' would likely result in unsuccessful input extraction, and the output would be unpredictable without further context of how the program handles such input errors.

Step-by-step explanation:

When a user enters the numbers 2 and 3 without a space (as '2and3'), the program described will not work as intended. The cin command in C++ expects input to be separated by whitespace (spaces, tabs, or newlines). When '2and3' is entered, the stream extraction operator (>>) will attempt to read an integer for variable x, but because '2and3' is not a valid integer, it will fail, and y will not be assigned a value. By default, if the input fails, x will retain its value if it was previously set (which is not the case here) or remain uninitialized (which may manifest as 0 or some undefined behavior), and y will be left uninitialized.

Unfortunately, this question seems to be missing the context of how the variables are set or what the expected behavior of the program is in the case of erroneous input, but typically the program would either prompt again, handle the error, or, in simpler implementations, would leave variables uninitialized or set to zero.

Therefore, it's unclear whether the program will output 2 0, 2 3, 2 2, or produce the same output without further context. More sophisticated programs might include input validation to prevent such issues, but that is not apparent from the given fragment.