Code: Gibberish++

I love C++.

And I hate it.

Whenever I pick up my C++ compiler, it feels like I'm coming home. It's a wonderfully powerful language, and one that, in the hands of the experienced, can be used to craft exquisite code. It can also be made to construct a bloody mess. Literally.

It's a sharp tool. With sharp edges. Whenever you pick it up, you realise that you have a sharp tool already covered in the blood of previous unfortunate users.

With great power comes great responsibility.

The language ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous, through fields of the inexplicable, unusable, and unreadable.

A great example of the gibberish end of C++'s spectrum is this example given me be a colleague.

What does the following code print?:

using namespace std;
int x = 50;
cout << setw(8) << setfill('0') << showbase << hex; cout << x << endl;

Any guesses?

The answer is: 00000x32. Um, handy.

What you have to say is this:

using namespace std;
int x = 50;
cout << setw(8) << setfill('0') << internal << showbase << hex; cout << x << endl;

To get: 0x000032.

Iostreams. Gibberish++