Nick help

<<split from some other thread>>
Hey guys I attempted this program for fun and was wondering what I need to change for this to work properly? Currently it will display one random number at a time a whole bunch of times then when it hits zero it will always say count is 25.

Code:

#include <iostream>
#include <ctime>
using namespace std;
int main ()

{
    
    
    int random, count, i;
    
    
    for (i = 1; ; ++i){
        srand(time(NULL));
        random = rand() % 10;
        cout << random << endl;
        
        
        if(random == 0){
        break;
        }
        }
        
        while (i == random){
              count++;
              }
              
              cout << count;
        
        system ("pause");
        
        return 0;
        }

If you want the count to happen inside the loop, you should put it ... inside the loop. And initially count is 25 (apparently) since you don't bother to ever give it a real value.

Originally Posted by tabstop

If you want the count to happen inside the loop, you should put it ... inside the loop. And initially count is 25 (apparently) since you don't bother to ever give it a real value.

When i put count inside the loop it makes the program perform even more strange, it just prints about 3 numbers and then the program just sits there with a blinking cursor as if its still doing something in the background. any other suggestions?

Originally Posted by nick753

Code:

        while (i == random){
              count++;
              }

What is this meant to do?

Do not call srand() more than once in one program, there is no point, especially in a fast loop where time() will be the same everytime (the measure is in seconds).

I notice that the way my RNG works, having that srand() inside the for loop causes it to output the same number repeatedly. Moving it to where it should be:

Code:

        srand(time(NULL));
    
    for (i = 1; ; ++i){
        random = rand() % 10;

Made a drastic difference.

This illustrates why you should not seed more than once. Every srand() call resets the generator, so if you call it like this:

Code:

	for (i=0;i<10;i++) {
		srand(22222);
		printf("%d\n", rand());
	}

You will get the exact same number 10 times. Now remember that time() will be the same for an entire second in your code.

Originally Posted by DeadPlanet

What is this meant to do?

count how many random numbers it took to get to zero. What is wrong?

nevermind guys, I used a nested loop. thanks