simple question on pointer-arrays

[mickey]

hi, I coded this:

int main (int argc, char* argv[]) {	
         cout << argv[1] << endl;	
	if (argv[1] == "hi") cerr << " hello\n";
	char* p = "hi";
	if (p == "hi") cout << "hello\n";

int main (int argc, char* argv[]) {	
         cout << argv[1] << endl;	
	if (argv[1] == "hi") cerr << " hello\n";
	char* p = "hi";
	if (p == "hi") cout << "hello\n";

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at console I need to launch program so: program.exe hi
and I don't understand why cout prints 'hi' but the first if isn't executed. isn't argv an array of char* ??? then why then second if is executed???
thanks

[jacek]

You are comparing pointers not strings. Either compare strings using strcmp() or use std::string instead of char *.

[Methedrine]

You are comparing pointers not strings. Either compare strings using strcmp() or use std::string instead of char *.

Exactly. argv is char**, so the = operator will compare the memory address of your "hi" with the memory address of argv[1]. And it would be a shitload of (bad) luck if these two addresses are the same