When you start learning C++, the compiler can feel like it's out to get you. Most of the time, though, beginners trip over the same handful of mistakes. Here are seven I see again and again, with a quick fix for each.

1. Forgetting to initialize variables

int total ; total = total + 5 ; // total holds garbage!

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In C++, a local variable is not set to zero for you. It holds whatever was in that memory before.

Fix: always give variables a starting value.

int total = 0 ; total += 5 ;

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2. Using = instead of == in conditions

if ( marks = 50 ) { // assigns 50, always true cout << "Pass" ; }

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Fix: use == to compare. Many developers turn on compiler warnings ( -Wall ) so the compiler catches this for them.

if ( marks == 50 ) { ... }

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