Thread: can anyone tell me why this outputs backwards

Code:

#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <string>

using namespace std;


vector<string> store_all_substrings(string s)
{
   
   if(s.length() <= 1)
   {
     vector<string> single_letter;
      single_letter.push_back(s);
      return single_letter;
   }
    vector<string> all_substrings = store_all_substrings(s.substr(1)); 
   for (int i = 1; i <= s.length(); i++)
    all_substrings.push_back(s.substr(0, i));
     
   return all_substrings;
}

int main()
{

  vector<string> all_substrings = store_all_substrings("cat");
  for(int i = 0; i < all_substrings.size(); i++)
     cout << all_substrings[i] << "\n";
   
   return 0;
}

It prints out in the order you build the vector. If that's not the order you want to print them, then either (a) build the vector in the opposite order (b) use reverse to reverse the vector (c) pick a container that supports push_front instead.

I think his problem is that the strings generated in:

Code:

store_all_substrings(s.substr(1));

Are stored before the substrings of the current string.

Honestly, I'd make the prototype:

Code:

void store_all_substrings(vector<string> &result, const string &s)

To make it faster and easier to read, as you don't have to copy as much from vector to vector; all you have to do is push_back.

But the actual problem is that you "store all substrings" of s.substr(1) before you generate the substrings of "s". If you wanted it reversed, first do the substrings of s and then the other thing.