Thread: why isn't my loop working properly?

im trying to make a simple program that generates 10 random prime numbers and displays them onto the screen. heres the code...

Code:

#include <iostream>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <time.h>

using namespace std;

bool isprime(int num);

int main()
{
    int randP = 0,i = 22;
    srand( (unsigned)time( NULL ) );
    for (int x = 0; x<10; x++)
    {
        randP = rand() % i; // generate a random number between 0 and the variable 'i'
        if (isprime(randP) == true) // if the random number is a prime then display it
        cout << randP << endl;            
    } 
    cout << endl;
    system("Pause");
    return 0;
}
       
bool isprime(int num)
{
     bool ya = false;
     if (num % 2 == 0)
     ya = true;
     else
     ya = false;
     return ya;
}

im not asking 'how do i generate 10 random prime numbers', i just simply want to know why my loop doesn't repeat 10 times like i want it to! to get an idea of what im talking about you have to try the code out for yourself. please help.

You need to decrement x whenever isprime == false;

wow thanks! that worked perfectly! could you explain why i needed to decrement x whenever isprime == false?

You should have been incrementing x only when the random number you got was actually prime. Since the for loop was incrementing x automatically whether or not you had a prime, decrementing x when the number wasn't prime counteracted that so that x would stay the same until the next prime number was found.

Another way to do it would have been to use a while loop and only increment x if the random number is prime.

Originally Posted by Daved

Another way to do it would have been to use a while loop and only increment x if the random number is prime.

something like this.....???

Code:

int x = 0;
while (isprime(randP) == true) && x<10)
{
      x++;
      cout << randP << endl;
}

Originally Posted by Narf

Your code is overly verbose. It's also misleading because you're not testing for primality, but whether the number is even or not. That's only a first step for a primality test, and you can make it shorter like this:

Code:

bool is_even(int num) {
  return num % 2 == 0;
}

Testing for a prime number is harder. Especially if you make it fast.

yeah i know my isprime function is pretty.....n00bish. do you know if there is a more efficient function in the C++ STL to test whether a number is a prime or not? because im pretty sure my isprime function wouldn't be able to calculate large numbers like 1.92749293503

>> something like this.....???

Not exactly. In your new version, if isprime returns false, then the loop will be broken. You only want the loop broken when x < 10 is not true. So remove the isprime part from the control of the while loop. Instead, it should go inside the loop in an if statement like you had it before. The only change would be to also increment x if isprime returned true.