Thread: Distribution of Fix numbers

How do you intend to distribute 500 votes among 3 candidates?

Originally Posted by newbi

Randomly. After I'm done with the code the user will execute the program and will find the 3 candidates side by side with their randomly generated votes (500 votes distributed among 3) But i cant figure out how to distribute those 500 votes among 3.

Do you just need a count of votes for each candidate, or do you actually need to individually tag each vote (e.g., by numbering them) and then list them along with the candidates?

By the way, the standard library's PRNG related functions are named srand and rand, not srandom and random, though these may be available outside of the standard library.

In that case, it is a matter of having an array of 3 elements (or 3 separate variables) to keep track of each candidate's score. Then, you loop 500 times, using the random number generated to decide which score to increment.

Here's a hint: You're currently generating two votes going towards 500 candidates.

Originally Posted by newbi

you randomly generate vote for each candidate 500 times

No, you randomly generates votes 500 times. The random number generated on each time would be used to determine which candidate gets the vote for that time.

Imagine if you had 500 voters in a queue to place their votes. Each of them has a ballot slip with three names, and they mark their choice as one of the three names. The voters go to the ballot box one by one to place their ballot slip. Their votes are then tallied, and who voted for who is kept secret: only the totals are announced. What you are doing here simulates this, except that instead of tallying the votes after everyone has voted, you keep a running total for each candidate (and generate a random number instead of getting people to mark their choices).

Originally Posted by Adak

Your first random number needs to be between 0 and 500 (or 1 and 498 if all candidates must get at least 1 vote).

Your second random number needs to be between 0/1 and (500-first random number). It can't be between 0 and 500 again, or you might go well beyond 500 votes.

Your third number of votes is then equal to 500 - first random number - second random number. So it's not random at all. It's just a calculation.

This method would be far more efficient at getting to a final answer, though it is further from a simulation of a voting process.

Well, it depends on what he wants... the "random" requirement could be satisfied by picking a winner, then distributing the votes as 168, 166, 166.

Originally Posted by laserlight

Well, it depends on what he wants... the "random" requirement could be satisfied by picking a winner, then distributing the votes as 168, 166, 166.

Code:

#include <stdio.h>              
#include <time.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
                
int main (void)         
{
        int C_A = 0, C_B = 0, C_C = 0, C_D = 0;
        int loop = 0, i = 0, pre = 0;
        int votes [500]; 
        srandom( (unsigned) time(NULL) );
                                
                while( i == 1 && i == 2 && i == 3 && i == 4)
                {
                        for(i = 0; i < 501; i++)
                        {
                                votes [i] = random ( ) % 4 + 1;
                                printf("\n %d \n", votes[0]);
                        }
         
                 if(i == 1)                {
                        C_A = C_A + 1;
                }
                 
                 if(i == 2)
                {
                        C_B = C_B + 1;
                }
                
                 if(i == 3)
                {
                        C_C = C_C + 1;
                }
                 
                 if(i == 4)
                {
                        C_D = C_D + 1;
                }


                        
                        loop = 0;
                }

        printf("\n %d \n", C_A);
        printf("\n %d \n", C_B);
        printf("\n %d \n", C_C);
        printf("\n %d \n", C_D);


                 
        return (0);
}

So can anyone tell me what's wrong with this code. M keep getting 0 for every candidate ????????!!!!!

What is the algorithm that you are trying to implement?