Thread: Correct algorithm, wrong result (cout problem?)

Hi everyone,

I am a C++ newbie. Here is the code (3n+1 algorithm) I am having problem with. No matter what the input number is (to the alg function), the result is always the same (namely, 16384). The algorithm seems correct to me, I guess the problem is with the cout in the main function. I don't know how to fix it. THX in advance.

Code:

#include <iostream>

int alg(int, int);

int main() {
  using namespace std;
   
  int result = alg(300,1);
  
  cout << result;
  
  cin.get();
}

//counter = 1
int alg(int n, int counter) {
  using namespace std;

  if (n == 1)
    return counter;
  else {
    if (n % 2 == 1)
      alg(3*n+1, ++counter);
    else
      alg(n/2, ++counter);
  }
}