Odd looping situation, don't know what's causing it - c++

Question

Having some trouble with some code and I cannot get to the bottom of it. This code:
int main()
{
int choice;
while (choice != -1)
{
system("cls");
std::cout << "Main Menu: " << std::endl
<< " 1. Encode." << std::endl
<< " 2. Decode." << std::endl
<< "-1 to exit." << std::endl;
std::cin >> choice;
switch (choice)
{
case 1:
encode();
break;
case 2:
decode();
break;
case -1:
break;
}
}
getchar();
return 0;
}
void encode()
{
std::string plainText;
std::string encText = "Test";
std::cout << "Enter text to be encrypted.\n";
getline(std::cin, plainText);
for (int x = 0; x < plainText.length(); x++)
{
//encText += plainText.substr(x, x + 1);
}
std::cout << encText;
getchar();
return;
}
If I enter '1' at the first cin >> choice, I go into encode(), once there, entering any text causes the program to go back to the while, perform system("cls"), and then jumps right back to "Enter text to be encrypted." down in encode().
Any help? I'm clueless.

Answer 1

If you'd like to exit your while loop after encode() or decode(), you have to satisty the while's condition. You can do this by simple setting choice to -1 after the function calls:
case 1:
encode();
choice = -1;
break;
case 2:
decode();
choice = -1;
break;
Just so you're aware, the return at the end of encode() causes the encode() function to finish, not main. That line of code actually does nothing; since there's nothing after it, it would happen anyway.