C++ string. why is the answer showing that string "dog" is greater than "cat", then "cat" is greater than "dog"?

Question

I'm not quite sure why the answer for the larger string ("cat" and "dog") is not consistent. I was doing some things with Linked Lists and the use of templates. My curiosity got me to revise templates and function overloading. If anyone can explain what is going on, I would appreciate it. Thank you.

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;   // for the sake of simplicity. (otherwise, std::)

// Function overloading and the use of templates

// overloading the function larger
int larger(int, int);
char larger(char, char);
double larger(double, double);
string larger(string, string);

template <class elementType>
elementType anyLarger(elementType parameter1, elementType parameter2);


int main() {

    cout << endl;
    cout << "Function Overloading" << endl;

    cout << "larger(15, 27)            =  " << larger(15, 27) << endl;
    cout << "larger('X', 'P')          =  " << larger('X', 'P') << endl;
    cout << "larger(4.9, 3.2)          =  " << larger(4.9, 3.2) << endl;
    cout << "larger(cat, dog)          =  " << larger("cat", "dog") << endl;

    cout << endl;
    cout << "Using the function template to find the larger of two items" << endl;
    cout << "anyLarger(15, 27)         =  " << anyLarger(15, 27) << endl;
    cout << "anyLarger('X', 'P')       =  " << anyLarger('X', 'P') << endl;
    cout << "anyLarger(4.9, 3.2)       =  " << anyLarger(4.9, 3.2) << endl;
    cout << "anyLarger(cat, dog)       =  " << anyLarger("cat", "dog") << endl;
    cout << endl;


    cout << "Compare two strings:   cat, dog" << endl;
    if ("cat" >= "dog") {
      cout << "cat is greater than dog" << endl;
    }
    else {
      cout << "dog is greater than cat" << endl;
    }

    cout << endl;
    string strCat = "cat";
    string strDog = "dog";
    cout << "string strCat = cat" << endl;
    cout << "string strDog = dog" << endl;
    if (strCat >= strDog) {
      cout << "strCat is greater than strDog" << endl;
    }
    else {
      cout << "strDog is greater than strCat" << endl;
    }
    cout << endl;
} // end main 

// Overloading larger
int larger(int x, int y) {
    if (x >= y)
      return x;
    else 
      return y;
}

char larger(char a, char b) {
    if (a >= b)
      return a;
    else 
      return b;
}

double larger(double p, double q) {
    if (p >= q)
      return p;
    else
      return q;
}

string larger(string y, string z) {
    if (y >= z)
      return y;
    else
      return z;
}


// Defining the template function
template <class elementType>
elementType anyLarger(elementType parameter1, elementType parameter2)
{
    if (parameter1 >= parameter2)
      return parameter1; 
    else
      return parameter2;
}

Here is the result after running the program.

Function Overloading
larger(15, 27)            =  27
larger('X', 'P')          =  X
larger(4.9, 3.2)          =  4.9
larger(cat, dog)          =  dog

Using the function template to find the larger of two items
anyLarger(15, 27)         =  27
anyLarger('X', 'P')       =  X
anyLarger(4.9, 3.2)       =  4.9
anyLarger(cat, dog)       =  cat

Compare two strings:   cat, dog
cat is greater than dog

string strCat = cat
string strDog = dog
strDog is greater than strCat

==============================================

Update: Made some changes and used strcmp

#include <iostream>
#include <string.h>
using namespace std;

// Function overloading and the use of templates


// overloading the function larger
int larger(int, int);
char larger(char, char);
double larger(double, double);
string larger(string, string);


template <class elementType>
elementType anyLarger(elementType parameter1, elementType parameter2);


int main(){

  cout << endl;
  cout << "// Function Overloading" << endl;


  cout << "larger(15, 27)              =  " << larger(15, 27) << endl;
  cout << "larger('X', 'P')            =  " << larger('X', 'P') << endl;
  cout << "larger(4.9, 3.2)            =  " << larger(4.9, 3.2) << endl;
  cout << "larger(\"cat\", \"dog\")        =  " << larger("cat", "dog") << endl;

  cout << endl;
  cout << "// Using the function template to find the larger of two items" << endl;
  cout << "anyLarger(15, 27)           =  " << anyLarger(15, 27) << endl;
  cout << "anyLarger('X', 'P')         =  " << anyLarger('X', 'P') << endl;
  cout << "anyLarger(4.9, 3.2)         =  " << anyLarger(4.9, 3.2) << endl;
  cout << "anyLarger(\"cat\", \"dog\")     =  " << anyLarger("cat", "dog") << endl;
  cout << endl;


  cout << "// Compare two strings using >= :   \"cat\", \"dog\"" << endl;
  if ("cat" >= "dog") {
    cout << "\"cat\" is greater than \"dog\"" << endl;
  }
  else {
    cout << "\"dog\" is greater than \"cat\"" << endl;
  }

  cout << endl;
  cout << "// The use of variables: strCat and strDog. Compare using >=" << endl;
  string strCat = "cat";
  string strDog = "dog";
  cout << "string strCat = \"cat\";" << endl;
  cout << "string strDog = \"dog\";" << endl;
  if (strCat >= strDog) {
    cout << "strCat is greater than strDog" << endl;
  }
  else {
    cout << "strDog is greater than strCat" << endl;
  }
  cout << endl;


  cout << "// Using strcmp.   strcmp(\"cat\", \"dog\")" << endl; 
  int result = strcmp("cat", "dog");
  if (result > 0) {
    cout << "\"cat\" is greater than \"dog\"" << endl;
  }
  else {
    cout << "\"dog\" is greater than \"cat\"" << endl;
  }
}

// Overloading larger
int larger(int x, int y) {
if (x >= y)
    return x;
  else 
    return y;
}


char larger(char a, char b) {
  if (a >= b)
    return a;
  else 
    return b;
}


double larger(double p, double q) {
  if (p >= q)
    return p;
  else
    return q;
}

string larger(string y, string z) {
  if (y >= z)
    return y;
  else
    return z;
}


// Defining the template function
template <class elementType>
elementType anyLarger(elementType parameter1, elementType parameter2)
{
  if (parameter1 >= parameter2)
    return parameter1; 
  else
    return parameter2;
}

================

Update: Output

// Function Overloading
larger(15, 27)              =  27
larger('X', 'P')            =  X
larger(4.9, 3.2)            =  4.9
larger("cat", "dog")        =  dog

// Using the function template to find the larger of two items
anyLarger(15, 27)           =  27
anyLarger('X', 'P')         =  X
anyLarger(4.9, 3.2)         =  4.9
anyLarger("cat", "dog")     =  cat

// Compare two strings using >= :   "cat", "dog"
"cat" is greater than "dog"

// The use of variables: strCat and strDog. Compare using >=
string strCat = "cat";
string strDog = "dog";
strDog is greater than strCat

// Using strcmp.   strcmp("cat", "dog")
"dog" is greater than "cat"

Answer 1

"cat" >= "dog"

You are comparing pointers but not the actual values. Use strcmp.

Answer 2

You are not lexicographically comparing strings in both cases.

"cat" >= "dog"

This is comparing char pointers because the type of the literals "cat" and "dog" is const char*. It could give either result, depending on how the compiler decided to materialize the literals.

To lexicographically compare C-style strings (including literals like these) the function strcmp must be used instead.

strCat >= strDog

This is comparing strings lexicographically because std::string provides comparison operators that explicitly implement this kind of comparison.