Hanging else problem?

Question

What is the \"hanging else\" problem? (Is that the right name?)

Following a C++ coding standard (forgot which one) I always use brackets (block) with control structu

Answer 1

Which if does the else belong to?

if (a < b)
    if (c < d)
        a = b + d;
    else
        b = a + c;

(Obviously you should ignore the indentation.)

That's the "hanging else problem".

C/C++ gets rid of the ambiguity by having a rule that says you can't have an-if-without-an-else as the if-body of an-if-with-an-else.