Hi, You should get compile errors, since the 'string' identifier is in the 'std' namespace, and has been since C++ was standardized (ISO 14882). Back in 1998. One better approach is to do this: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- #include <iostream> using std::cout; using std::endl; #include <string> using std::string; int main() { string second = " WORLD !"; string mesg = "HELLO" + second; cout << mesg << endl; } --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --Eljay