Thread: Is this the best way to write this?

Hey guys,
This program does exactly what it is intended to do, I was just wondering if it is the best way to accomplish this task. The program searches 'sentence' for str1, str2, or str3 (as picked by the user), and displays whether or not it is found in the original sentence. I am learning C from a book and doing all of the challenges, like I said, this program works fine, just wondering if it is the BEST way doing this.

Thanks!

Code:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <ctype.h>


main(){
    char *sentence="When the going gets tough, the tough stay put!";
    char *str1="Going";
    char *str2="tou";
    char *str3="ay put";
    int response=0;
    
    printf("%s\n\n", sentence);
    
    printf("1\t is \"%s\" in the sentence?\n", str1);
    printf("2\t is \"%s\" in the sentence?\n", str2);
    printf("3\t is \"%s\" in the sentence?\n", str3);
    printf("4\t Quit\n\nPlease enter your choice...");
    scanf("%d", &response);
    
    switch(response){
        case 1:
            if (strstr(sentence,str1)!=NULL){  
                printf("Yes \"%s\" is found in %s\n", str1, sentence);
                getch();
            }
            else
                printf("Nope, the G is not capitalized in \"%s\"", sentence);
                getch();
            return;
        case 2:
            if (strstr(sentence, str2)!=NULL){
                printf("Yes, \"%s\" is found in \"%s\"\n", str2, sentence);
                getch();
            }
            else
                printf("Nope!");
                getch();
            return;
        case 3:
            if (strstr(sentence, str3)!=NULL){
                printf("Yes, \"%s\" is found in \"%s\"\n", str3, sentence);
                getch();
            }
            else
                printf("Nope!");
            return;
        case 4:
            return;
    }
}

First of all, main must be declared as
int main(void)
You also need to reutrn a value, typically zero.
Most of your returns have the same effect as a break so I would just change them to breaks.
Some of your cases call getch() twice, once inside the if and once after the else. That's right the second one is not inside the else, but you're misleading yourself into thinking that it is because of the indentation. After changing the returns to break and putting a single return at the end, why not put the getch() at the end too.
You don't need a case such as case 4 if it does nothing different from the default case.

So would this be the best way to write the program?

Code:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <ctype.h>


int main(void){
    char *sentence="When the going gets tough, the tough stay put!";
    char *str1="Going";
    char *str2="tou";
    char *str3="ay put";
    int response=0;
    
    printf("%s\n\n", sentence);
    
    printf("1\t is \"%s\" in the sentence?\n", str1);
    printf("2\t is \"%s\" in the sentence?\n", str2);
    printf("3\t is \"%s\" in the sentence?\n", str3);
    printf("4\t Quit\n\nPlease enter your choice...");
    scanf("%d", &response);
    
    switch(response){
        case 1:
            if (strstr(sentence,str1)!=NULL)
                printf("Yes \"%s\" is found in %s\n", str1, sentence);
            else
                printf("Nope, the G is not capitalized in \"%s\"", sentence);
            getch();
            break;
        case 2:
            if (strstr(sentence, str2)!=NULL)
                printf("Yes, \"%s\" is found in \"%s\"\n", str2, sentence);
            else
                printf("Nope!");
            getch();
            break;
        case 3:
            if (strstr(sentence, str3)!=NULL)
                printf("Yes, \"%s\" is found in \"%s\"\n", str3, sentence);
            else
                printf("Nope!");
            getch();
            break;
    }
    return 0;
}

There's usually no "best way" to write something. It depends on the criteria. For instance, maybe you're looking for something more scalable so you can easily add more search options, like this:

Code:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
 
int main(void){
  char *sentence="When the going gets tough, the tough stay put!";
  char *searches[] = { "Going", "tou", "ay put" };
  int num_searches = 3;
  int response;
  int i;

  printf("%s\n\n", sentence);
     
  for(i = 0;i < num_searches;++i)
    printf("%d\t is \"%s\" in the sentence?\n", i + 1, searches[i]);
  printf("%d\t Quit\n\nPlease enter your choice...", i + 1);
  scanf("%d", &response);
  getchar();

  if(response > 0 && response <= num_searches)
  {
    if(strstr(sentence, searches[response - 1])!=NULL)
      printf("Yes \"%s\" is found in \"%s\"\n", searches[response - 1], sentence);
    else
      puts("Nope!");
  }

  getchar();
  return 0;
}

Originally Posted by CommonTater

Code:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <ctype.h>

int main(void){
    char *sentence="When the going gets tough, the tough stay put!";
    char str[3][7]= {"Going", "tou", "ay put"};
    int response=0;
    
    printf("%s\n\n", sentence);
    
    printf("1\t is \"%s\" in the sentence?\n", str[0]);
    printf("2\t is \"%s\" in the sentence?\n", str[1]);
    printf("3\t is \"%s\" in the sentence?\n", str[2]);
    printf("4\t Quit\n\nPlease enter your choice...");
    scanf("%d", &response);
           
    if (response < 0  || response > 3)
      return 0;

    if ( strstr(sentence,str[response -1]))
      printf("Yep, it's there.");
    else
      printf("Sorry, not there.");

    return 0;
}

Why wouldn't you use a loop like I did for displaying the options? If you have an array, might as well make effective use of it.