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Code Understanding

enum gender{MALE,FEMALE,OTHER};
Here we declare new data type of enumerated type which can have a value list defined by names as given above. by default these names will be given value 0, 1 and 2 successively.

int main(){
gender g;
Here we define a variable g which will be of gender type. This will essentially take 4 bytes in memory as integer default possible values will be assigned.

g = MALE;
Here the symbol from the given list MALE is assigned to g. Internally it will assign 0 only as it is the first member of the list.

cout<<g<<endl;
This will print the value of g which is currently 0 (the first member)

gender g1=FEMALE;
Here we declare a new variable g1 which not only declared but initialised also with a symbol from the given list only. This time since FEMALE is the send member in the list it will fill the value 1.

cout<<g1<<endl;
Value g1 as filled while initialisation will be printed.

return 0; }

Notes

• Read the following article to understand the basic concepts of enumeration in C++.
  http://computersirkiclass.com/?p=4547

Common Errors

• Learners often incorrectly provide direct integer values to enumerated data types, which is wrong. for e.g. in above example one can not write.
  gender g;
  g=0; //This will give error as only possible value like MALE, FEMALE, OTHER can be assigned. even though it may internally assign the same value.

Suggested Filename(s): smp-enum.cpp, simple-enum.cpp