C++ Tutorials - Absolute n00b spoonfeed

On Microsoft windows, we have the "Sleep" function to pause the program for a given amount of milliseconds. so

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Sleep(1000);

will make the program freeze for 1 second.

EDIT: You will need to #include <windows.h> to use Sleep(). Sometimes its already included through some other headers, sometimes not. To be safe you need to manually include it.

Ahhh, very useful to know that this command exists in some type of C++. Thanks antiRTFM

Just wondering, to get the sleep function working, do you need to include another package/what ever they call them? like
#include <blahblah>?

If you're in Unix/Linux/Mac OS X then you'll need to do

#include <unistd.h>

if you're compiling in Windows then you'll need to do

#include <windows.h>


Oh yes, and the function is

void sleep( unsigned int uSeconds );

under Unix/Linux/Mac OS X, and under Windows it's

void Sleep( DWORD dwMilliseconds );

Watch the capitalization of the S (lower case under *nix etc) and notice that it's seconds in *nix and milliseconds in Windows.

I don't know if this is only for Windows, I just know this method works for windows. It's also very similar to antiRTFM's cin.get() .

You'll need to have #include <conio.h> declared at the top and then you can place getch(); wherever you want to pause until the user presses a key. This is only advantageous if you're planning to have multiple pauses within your programs, it cuts down the amount of keys you may need to type by 2 characters, which may add up to make up far the #include <conio.h> eventually!

Seato wrote:I don't know if this is only for Windows, I just know this method works for windows. It's also very similar to antiRTFM's cin.get() .

You'll need to have #include <conio.h> declared at the top and then you can place getch(); wherever you want to pause until the user presses a key. This is only advantageous if you're planning to have multiple pauses within your programs, it cuts down the amount of keys you may need to type by 2 characters, which may add up to make up far the #include <conio.h> eventually!

Using conio.h is really a bad idea. It's not standard C++, but that's not the biggest reason why it's bad. The implementation of conio.h differs from compiler to compiler. There are situations where you have to use a library to do something the standard doesn't support. If you really have to use a console library use ncurses or Windows console library.

Ah, thanks for the advice C++. It was just something I picked up from the net, better I learn now than later at least.

Here is a way to build your own cross platform (at least I think it is?) sleep function which works the same as the Sleep() in <windows.h>:

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#include <ctime>

void sleep(unsigned int mseconds)
{
    clock_t goal= mseconds + clock();
    while( goal > clock() );
}

int main()
{
    sleep(1000);//where 1000 mseconds is equal to 1 sec.
}