In this article, we’ll take a look at using the system(“pause”) command in C++.

Before going through this article, note this the system("pause") command is only available in Windows Systems.

This means that you cannot use this from any Linux / Mac machine.

The system() command

Before going through the system(“pause”) command, let’s understand what system() does.

#include <cstdlib>

**int**` `**system**``(``**const**` `**char**` `*command);

The system() function performs a call to the Operating System to run a particular command.

Note that we must include the <cstdlib> header file.

This is very similar to opening a terminal and executing that command by hand.

For example, if you want to use the “ls” command from Linux, you can use system("ls").

If you are having any Linux/Mac machine, you can try the below code.

#include <iostream>

#include <cstdlib>

**using**` `**namespace**` `std;

**int**` `main() {

// Try the "ls -l" command from your Linux / Mac machine

**int**` `ret =` `**system**``(``"ls -l > test.txt"``);

**return**` `0;

`}`

Possible Output

total 16

-rwxr-xr-x 1 2001 2000 9712 Jun 25 21:11 a.out

-rw-rw-rw- 1 2001 2000  209 Jun 25 21:11 main.cpp

-rw-r--r-- 1 2001 2000    0 Jun 25 21:11` `test``.txt

Now that we’re a bit clear on what system() can do, let’s look at the system(“pause”) command.

#programming-c #cplusplus