Getting a "expected Primary Expression before else"

Question

I have looked at about 15 pages and corrections of this problem but just can't crack it. If someone could advise I would be eternally grateful!

#include <cstdlib>
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
   int exres = 100;

   if (exres = 100)
   {
      cout << "Perfect Score!";
      else
      cout << "try again";
   }    


system("PAUSE");
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

For basic syntax and other topics, you might want to grab a [good book](http://stackoverflow.com/q/388242/1782465). — Angew is no longer proud of SO, Feb 19 '14 at 17:34

Joseph Mansfield · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-19T17:35:16.727

Your if statement syntax is incorrect. Each part of the if statement should be in its own block (within { and }s).

if (exres == 100)
{
   cout << "Perfect Score!";
}
else
{
   cout << "try again";
}

If the blocks each consist of a single statement (as they do in this case), then the braces can be omitted altogether:

if (exres == 100)
   cout << "Perfect Score!";
else
   cout << "try again";

However, I recommend using braces at all times.

Notice also that your assignment operator (=) should be the equality operator (==) instead.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 19 '14 at 17:38

0

You made two errors. The else statement has no a corresponding if statement and instead of the comparison operator you used the assignment operator in statement

  if (exres = 100)

Also I would insert endl in output statements

   if ( exres == 100)
   {
      cout << "Perfect Score!" << endl;
   }
   else
   {
      cout << "try again" << endl;
   }

Also nobody is able to repeat the attempt because you set yourself the value of exres. I would write the program the following way

#include <cstdlib>
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
   while ( true )
   {
      cout << "Enter your score: ";
      unsigned int exres = 0;

      cin >> exres;

      if ( exres == 0 ) break;

      if ( exres == 100)
      {
         cout << "Perfect Score!" << endl;
      }
      else
      {
         cout << "try again" << endl;
      }
   }    


   system("PAUSE");

   return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

answered Feb 19 '14 at 17:38

Vlad from Moscow

301,070
26
186
335

I think he's trying to write it himself. This comparison is just the first step. – Joseph Mansfield Feb 19 '14 at 17:40
@Joseph Mansfield Maybe. But I showed a possible direction of the program development.:) – Vlad from Moscow Feb 19 '14 at 17:42
Why `endl`? Do you think it's necessary to flush the buffer in this case? Wouldn't a simple `\n` do? – Angew is no longer proud of SO Feb 19 '14 at 17:48
@Angew Usually I use '\n' when I want to output a multiline text and endl in other cases. If a program will abend I will see the output. – Vlad from Moscow Feb 19 '14 at 17:50
You have a point, but at the same time, overusing `endl` can actually degrade performance in production code. I'm not against `endl` in general, I just don't like developers thinking that "the way to put a newline in a stream is to insert `endl`." No, that's a way to *put a newline and flush the stream.* – Angew is no longer proud of SO Feb 19 '14 at 18:09

Getting a "expected Primary Expression before else"

2 Answers2