Thread: Problem solving with repetition

Hello all, I am having a bit of trouble figuring out the solution to this:

Code:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
/*
You are to write a program that will allow a user to enter infinite numbers (greater than zero)
(One number at a time).  You must have a way for the user to stop entering values.
Once the user stops, you will immediately display the following:


The lowest number entered is:
The highest number entered is:
The number of values entered is:
The average of the numbers entered is:
*/


main() {


	int userNumber=0, sum=0, count=0, highNum=0, lowNum=0, lastNum = 0;
	double average;


	printf("Enter a number greater than 0: (Enter -1 to stop) \n");
	scanf_s("%i", &userNumber);


	while (userNumber != -1){
		if (userNumber > lowNum && userNumber > highNum)
			highNum = userNumber;
		count = count + 1;
		sum = sum + userNumber;
		printf("Enter a number:(-1 to stop)\n");
		scanf_s("%i", &userNumber);
	}
	average = (double)sum / count;


	printf("\t The sum is: %i\n", sum);
	printf("\t %i numbers were input\n", count);
	printf("\t The average is %.2lf\n", average);
	printf("The highest number entered was: %i", highNum);
	printf("The last number entered was: %i", lastNum);
	printf("The lowest number entered was: %i", lowNum);
	system("pause");
}

My program outputs everything I need except the lowest number entered. I have been spending a considerable amount of time on this problem to no avail. Please help me out here fellow programmers! This is for a school project due tomorrow. More important than the homework, however, is the fact that I truly want to figure this out. I'm a new programmer but I plan to make this my career so I am extremely hungry for knowledge!! Thanks in advance to you awesome helpers, guru's and mentors

You don't set the value of 'lowNum' any where in your code; well, apart from initializing its value to zero.

You need to have something like this in your code:

Code:

if (userNumber > lowNum && userNumber > highNum)   
         highNum = userNumber;
else if (userNumber < lowNum)
            lowNum = userNumber;

Originally Posted by Aslaville

You don't set the value of 'lowNum' any where in your code; well, apart from initializing its value to zero.

You need to have something like this in your code:

Code:

if (userNumber > lowNum && userNumber > highNum)   
         highNum = userNumber;
else if (userNumber < lowNum)
            lowNum = userNumber;

The problem here is that the OP initialises lowNum to 0. This means that no number entered by the user is smaller than lowNum.

@Cheyne: You need to initialise lowNum to the largest value it can hold. The header file limits.h should define something like INT_MAX, which is the largest value an int variable can hold.

Cheers.

@Cheyne: You need to initialise lowNum to the largest value it can hold.

Not really, you can use the first value entered to set the low and high values.

Code:

...
    // The first scanf() function.
    printf("Enter a number greater than 0: (Enter -1 to stop) \n");
    scanf_s("%i", &userNumber);
    highNum = userNumber;
    lowNum = userNumber;

...

Jim

Jim, you're correct. That's an option I hadn't thought about.

And now for the next question. What happens when a user enters -1 as the first value.

Cheers.