1.8 Preliminary Remarks about Program Style

As far as the C++ compiler is concerned, the following program is exactly the same as the program in Section 1.5: #include using namespace std; int main()
{ int year_now, age_now, another_year, another_age; cout <<
"Enter the current year then press RETURN.\n"; cin >> year_now; cout
<< "Enter your current age in years.\n"; cin >> age_now; cout <<
"Enter the year for which you wish to know your age.\n"; cin >>
another_year; another_age = another_year - (year_now - age_now); if
(another_age >= 0) { cout << "Your age in " << another_year << ": ";
cout << another_age << "\n"; } else { cout <<
"You weren't even born in "; cout << another_year << "!\n"; } return
0; }
However, the lack of program comments, spaces, new lines and indentation makes this program unacceptable. There is much more to developing a good programming style than learning to lay out programs properly, but it is a good start! Be consistent with your program layout, and make sure the indentation and spacing reflects the logical structure of your program. It is also a good idea to pick meaningful names for variables; "year_now", "age_now", "another_year " and "another__age " are better names than "y_n", "a_n", "a_y" and "a_a", and much better than "w", "x", "y" and "z". Remember that your programs might need modification by other programmers at a later date.