Thread: need help debugging a program counting bits set from an integer number

The program is supposed to count the number of bits set by an integer. for example: 5 is 00000101 and has two bits set. compiling the program with debug statements makes me think that the program isn't even entering the integer into the loop

Code:

/********************************************************
 *							*
 * FILE: ch10_ex4.c					*
 * CREATED: 8/15/07					*
 * BY: bpf						*
 *							*
 *  this program counts the number of bits set in an 	*
 *   integer						*
 *							*
 ********************************************************/

#include<stdio.h>

main()
{
  char line[100];
  int itgr; /* the integer value of the input number */

  int r; /* remainder */
  int set = 0; /* number of variables set */
  int n; /* index into the line of bits */
  int subt = 0; /* the value to subtract from the remainder starts at zero each loop */

  /* input number */
  (void)printf("enter an integer: ");
  (void)fgets(line, sizeof(line), stdin);
  (void)sscanf(line, "%d", &itgr);

  r = itgr; /* remainder starts off the same as the integer */

  while(0)
    {      
      /* if the remainder is equal to one, the one's column is set and the loop can stop */
      if (r == 1)
	{
	  set++;

	  break;
	}

      /* if the remainder is equal to zero the number of bits set are counted and the loop stops */
      else{ if (r == 0)
	  {
	    break;
	  }

	/* the highest multiple of two is counted up to and becomes the number subtracted from the remainder */      
	else{ for (n = 1; n <= r; n * 2)
	    {
	      subt = n;
	    }

	  /* the remainder is lowered and one column is set */	  
	  r = r - subt;
	  set++;
	}
      }
    }

  /* how many bits are set */
  (void)printf("%d bits are set\n", set);

  return(0);
}

until the remainder goes to 1 or zero

so the for loop will find the highest multiple of two and subtract it from the remainder until it reaches the 'one's' spot

What exactly is the condition inside the parenthesis of "while(0)", and what does that evaluate to as a "true/false" statement?

--
Mats

What basically people are trying you to answer is that 0 means "false" in C and everything else means "true". So, by writing while(0), you are basically saying "while false" which, of course, evalute to false...

And by the way, this is an infinite loop if r > 1

Code:

for (n = 1; n <= r; n * 2)
{
    subt = n;
}

instead, you should write something like

Code:

for (n = 1; n <= r; n = n * 2)
{
    subt = n;
}

Also, you could rewrite your code so it have a nicer and easier to understand structure/logic. But it's not that bad either...

Also, you might want to check the return value of sscanf and check if the number entered by the user is non negative before entering your loop.

Code:

 while(itgr)
  {
      if(itgr%2 == 1)
         set++;
      
      itgr /= 2;   
  }

You could replace your while loop with this one. This minimizes your code. And why do want to type cast the printf return value to void. There is no need for that.

ssharish2005

you can just use // to comment out, saves time and fingers moving around to do /* and */ everytime u want to comment