@Vladimir is right. Here is the mechanism behind the bug:
When you enter option '3', what you actually put into stream is "3\n". cin >> option consumes "3" and leaves "\n". getline() consumes "\n" and your call to ignore() after getline() waits for user input.
As you can see, teh sequence of events is already not what you expected.
Now, while ignore() is waiting for input, you type in your line. That line you're typing is what will go to "cin >> option.
If you just give it one symbol, ignore() will dispose of it for you, and option will be read correctly. However, if you give it non-numeric symbols, stream will set failbit when trying to read the option. From that point on, your stream will refuse to do anything. Any << or getline will not set any new values in the variables they are supposed to change. You'll keep 3 in option and "" in task, in a tight loop.
Things to do:
- always check cin.eof(), cin.fail() and cin.bad().
- always initialize your variables and declare them in the narrowest scope possible (declare option=0 right before it's read).
