How do I use an enum value in a switch statement in C++?

Question

I would like to use an enum value for a switch statement. Is it possible to use the enum values enclosed in "{}" as choices for the switch()"?

I know that switch() needs an integer value in order to direct the flow of programming to the appropriate case number. If this is the case, do I just make a variable for each constant in the enum statement?

I also want the user to be able to pick the choice and pass that choice to the switch() statement.

For example:

cout << "1 - Easy, ";
cout << "2 - Medium, ";
cout << "3 - Hard: ";

enum myChoice { EASY = 1, MEDIUM = 2, HARD = 3 };

cin >> ????

switch(????)
{
case 1/EASY:  // (can I just type case EASY?)
    cout << "You picked easy!";
    break;

case 2/MEDIUM:
    cout << "You picked medium!";
    break;

case 3/HARD: // ..... (the same thing as case 2 except on hard.)

default:
    return 0;
}

Answer 1

You can use an enumerated value just like an integer:

myChoice c;  ...  switch( c ) { case EASY:     DoStuff();     break; case MEDIUM:     ... } 

Answer 2

You're on the right track. You may read the user input into an integer and switch on that:

enum Choice {   EASY = 1,    MEDIUM = 2,    HARD = 3 };  int i = -1;  // ...<present the user with a menu>...  cin >> i;  switch(i) {   case EASY:     cout << "Easy\n";     break;   case MEDIUM:     cout << "Medium\n";     break;   case HARD:     cout << "Hard\n";     break;   default:     cout << "Invalid Selection\n";     break; } 

Answer 3

Some things to note:

You should always declare your enum inside a namespace as enums are not proper namespaces and you will be tempted to use them like one.

Always have a break at the end of each switch clause execution will continue downwards to the end otherwise.

Always include the default: case in your switch.

Use variables of enum type to hold enum values for clarity.

see here for a discussion of the correct use of enums in C++.

This is what you want to do.

namespace choices
{
    enum myChoice 
    { 
        EASY = 1 ,
        MEDIUM = 2, 
        HARD = 3  
    };
}

int main(int c, char** argv)
{
    choices::myChoice enumVar;
    cin >> enumVar;
    switch (enumVar)
    {
        case choices::EASY:
        {
            // do stuff
            break;
        }
        case choices::MEDIUM:
        {
            // do stuff
            break;
        }

        default:
        {
            // is likely to be an error
        }
    };

}