Why am I getting an infinite loop of 0's? (Java) - java

I asked a question about my code the other day, which was quickly resolved by the incredible community here. However I have encountered a completely separate problem using a re-written version of my code. Here's a description of the program from my previous post.
I'm trying to write a program that can detect the largest sum that can be made with any subset of numbers in an ArrayList, and the sum must be lower than a user-input target number. My program is working flawlessly so far, with the exception of one line (no pun intended). Keep in mind that this code isn't complete yet too.
My problem with the code now is that after the user inputs a target number, the program outputs an infinite loop of 0's. Even after trying to debug, I still come up with problems. The ArrayList is being applied to the program perfectly fine, but I think I may have a problem somewhere within one of my while loops. Any ideas?
Heres the code.
import java.util.*;
class Sum{
public static void main(String[] args){
Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
int temp = 0, target = 1, result = 0, firstIndex = 0, secondIndex = 0;
String tempString = null;
ArrayList<String> list = new ArrayList<String>();
ArrayList<Integer> last = new ArrayList<Integer>();
System.out.println("Enter integers one at a time, pressing enter after each integer Type \"done\" when finished.\nOR just type \"done\" to use the default list.");
String placehold = "NotDone";
while (!placehold.equals("done")){
list.add(input.nextLine());
placehold = list.get(list.size() - 1);
}
list.remove(list.size() - 1);
if (list.size() == 0){ //Inserts default list if said list is empty
list.add("1");
list.add("2");
list.add("4");
list.add("5");
list.add("8");
list.add("12");
list.add("15");
list.add("21");
}
for (int i = 0; i < list.size(); i++){
tempString = list.get(i);
temp = Integer.parseInt(tempString); //Changes the items in the list to Integers, which can be inserted into another list and then sorted
last.add(temp);
}
Collections.sort(last);
System.out.println("Enter the target number");
target = input.nextInt();
while (result < target){
firstIndex = last.size() - 1;
secondIndex = firstIndex - 1;
while (last.get(firstIndex) > target){
firstIndex--;
}
if (last.get(firstIndex) + last.get(secondIndex) < result){
result = last.get(firstIndex) + last.get(secondIndex);
last.remove(firstIndex);
last.remove(secondIndex);
last.add(result);
}
else{
secondIndex--;
}
System.out.println(result);
}
}
}
And the Output...
Enter integers one at a time, pressing enter after each integer Type "done" when finished.
OR just type "done" to use the default list.
done //Prompting to use the default list
Enter the target number
15 //User inputs target number
0
0
0
0
0
0
... //And so on

target = input.nextInt();
should be within your loop otherwise the variable will never change and
while(result<target) will never turn to false
while(result<target) {
target = input.nextInt();
// otherCoolCode
}

You are assigning target before the while loop, and you are not altering target any way inside the while loop. You need to prompt the user within the while loop. Otherwise, if you set a target variable higher than 0, it will be an infinite loop.

The problem is in
if (last.get(firstIndex) + last.get(secondIndex) < result) {
...
}
Result is always initialized to zero, so that condition will never be true.
One possible fix is to add an extra condition to handle this initial case:
if (result == 0 || last.get(firstIndex) + last.get(secondIndex) < result) {
...
}

An infinite loop occurs when you have a loop whose condition(s) do not change during an iteration of the loop.
Let's review your loop:
while (result < target){
firstIndex = last.size() - 1;
secondIndex = firstIndex - 1;
while (last.get(firstIndex) > target){
firstIndex--;
}
if (last.get(firstIndex) + last.get(secondIndex) < result){
result = last.get(firstIndex) + last.get(secondIndex);
last.remove(firstIndex);
last.remove(secondIndex);
last.add(result);
}
else{
secondIndex--;
}
System.out.println(result);
}
Your loop will only end if result and/ortarget change so that result < target is false.
Within your loop you assign to result only when (last.get(firstIndex) + last.get(secondIndex) < result) is true. So if that condition is false then result will not change.
You have some additional state that is not in the loop condition itself but is manipulated by the loop: firstIndex and secondIndex. Every iteration of the loop you assign to them. You do have an 'else' clause where you modify secondIndex just before printing the current value of result, however you then immediately assign to it at the top of the loop.
This is the crux of your infinite loop (when last.get(firstIndex) + last.get(secondIndex) < result is false):
result doesn't change
Your list last isn't modified, thus last.size()-1 and firstIndex - 1 remain the same
You assign secondIndex = firstIndex - 1; overwriting the decrement at the end of the loop, thus neither firstIndex nor secondIndex change

In this line
if (last.get(firstIndex) + last.get(secondIndex) < result) {
the sum of both your values will hardly ever be less than result, which is "0".

Related

Finding Maximum Value of Array

I'm trying to loop through my array to find the maximum value and print the value. However, nothing is being printed to the console. Can you please take a look at my code below to see what I've done incorrectly.
for (c = 0; c < n; c++) //loops through array until each index has had a value input by the user
array[c] = in.nextInt();
maxInt = array[0];
minInt = array[0];
for (c = 0; c < n; c++) {
if (array[c] > maxInt) {
maxInt = array[c];
}
else {
break;
}
}
System.out.println("Max int is: " + maxInt);
}
EDIT:
Full class:
import java.util.Scanner;
public class MaxMinOfArray {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int c, n, search, array[];
int maxInt, minInt;
Scanner in = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.println("Enter number of elements");
n = in.nextInt(); //asks user to specify array size
array = new int[n]; //creates array of specified array size
System.out.println("Enter " + n + " integers");
for (c = 0; c < n; c++) //loops through array until each index has had a value input by the user
array[c] = in.nextInt();
maxInt = array[0];
minInt = array[0];
for (c = 1; c < n; c++) {
if (array[c] > maxInt) {
maxInt = array[c];
}
}
System.out.println("Max int is: " + maxInt);
}
}
Remove:
else {
break;
}
And start from c=1
Remove your this part of code.
else {
break;
}
Because when c==0 in that time array[c] == maxInt. So it goes to else part and break your for loop.
As others indicated, you don't want to do
else {
break;
}
That means that it'll stop looping as soon as it finds a number that isn't larger than the current max. Since you're starting with the first item in the list, which trivially isn't larger than itself, you break immediately.
Even if you changed it to start at c = 1, the only case where this code could possibly work as written is if the user entered numbers in ascending order. (In that case, doing a linear search like this would be pointless anyway since you could literally just find the last item in the array and know that it'll be the largest item).
Also, you should check to see if array[c] is smaller than the current minimum value in your for loop; there's no reason at all to do this in a separate loop.
Remember, if you're doing a linear search for the max value of an unsorted array, you always must go through the entire array to make sure you didn't miss a greater value. For example, if you only search half of the array, how do you know that the half that you didn't search doesn't contain the max value?
Your second loop compares for each element in array if it is greater than maxInt, but maxInt has just been set to the first element of array. This fails the condition on the first iteration of the loop, executing the break in the else block, which ends the loop.
Taking out the else block fixes this:
for (c = 0; c < n; ++c)
{
if (array[c] > maxInt)
maxInt = array[c];
}
Or alternatively:
for (c = 0; c < n; ++c)
maxInt = Math.max(maxInt, array[c]);
As for the console message not appearing, make sure the code is properly executed by setting a breakpoint and stepping through the code (depends on the IDE you're using).

Finding numbers with distinct digits in a range using loops

Desired behaviour: print and count all numbers between 1 (inclusive) and lim (exclusive) that have distinct digits, that is, not the same digit twice.
Specific problem: The program runs in an infinite loop.
This is what I have already done. but it is not working. I tried printing the values at each step but it keeps on giving 1 in infinte loop.
What did I do wrong?
public static void main(String args[]) {
Scanner sc= new Scanner(System.in);
double limit=sc.nextDouble(); // reading the range of numbers from 0 to limit-digit number
int count=0,total=0;
int lim=(int)(Math.pow(10.0,limit)); //setting range from 0 to 10^limit
System.out.println(lim);
for(int i=1;i<lim;i++) {
Set<Integer> set = new HashSet<Integer>(); //making a hash set to include the unique elements
System.out.println(i);
while (i > 0) {
int tempVal = i % 10; //each digit is extracted and stored in hash set if unique
set.add(tempVal);
i = i / 10;
count++;
//System.out.println(count);
}
count+=1;
if(count==set.size())
{
total++;
}
count=0;
}
System.out.println(total);
}
Your problem in your loop :
while (i > 0) {//<<------------
To solve your problem you have inverse the order of your condition instead of :
while (i > 0) {
You have to use :
while (i < 0) {
Or it is also logic to replace the i in your loop :
while (i > 0) {
With count like this :
while (count > 0) {
I believe your problem is you are using i for two purposes. i is your loop control variable from 1 to lim. You modify i inside the loop, then it will no longer work as loop control variable. It will never reach lim, so your for loop will never terminate.
Instead you need to work in a copy of i when deciding whether i has distinct digits, so you can do your calculation without modifying i itself.

Find largest sequence within an arraylist

Some Background
Last week I did a problem in my textbook where It told me to generate 20 random numbers and then put brackets around successive numbers that are equal
Consider the following which my program outputs
697342(33)(666)(44)69(66)1(88)
What I need to do
The next problem was to basically get the longest sequence of these words and put brackets around them. If you have
1122345(6666)
Basically you need to put brackets around four 6's , since they occur most often.
I've finished all other problems in the chapter I am studying ( Arrays and ArrayLists), however I can't seem to figure this one out.
Here is the solution that I have made for putting brackets around successive numbers:
class Seq
{
private ArrayList<Integer> nums;
private Random randNum;
public Seq()
{
nums = new ArrayList<Integer>();
randNum = new Random();
}
public void fillArrList()
{
for (int i = 0 ; i < 20 ; i++)
{
int thisRandNum = randNum.nextInt(9)+1;
nums.add(thisRandNum);
}
}
public String toString() {
StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder();
boolean inRun = false;
for (int i = 0; i < nums.size(); i++) {
if (i < nums.size() - 1 && nums.get(i).equals(nums.get(i + 1))) {
if (!inRun) {
result.append("(");
}
result.append(nums.get(i));
inRun = true;
} else {
result.append(nums.get(i));
if (inRun) {
result.append(")");
}
inRun = false;
}
}
return result.toString();
}
}
My Thoughts
Iterate through the whole list. Make a count variable, that keeps track of how many numbers are successive of each other. I.e 22 would have a count of 2. 444 a count of 3
Next make an oldCount, which compares the current count to the oldCount. We only want to keep going if our new count is greater than oldCount
After that we need a way to get the starting index of the largest count variable, as well as the end.
Is my way of thinking correct? Because I'm having trouble updating the oldCount and count variable while comparing them, since there values constantly change. I'm not looking for the code, but rather some valuable hints.
My count is resetting like this
int startIndex, endIndex = 0;
int count = 0;
int oldCount = 0;
for(int i = 0 ; i < nums.size(); i++)
{
if(nums.get(i) == nums.get(i+1) && count >= oldCount)
{
count++;
}
oldCount = count;
}
Only after walking all elements you will know the longest subsequence.
11222333333444555
11222(333333)444555
Hence only after the loop you can insert both brackets.
So you have to maintain a local optimum: start index plus length or last index of optimum.
And then for every sequence the start index of the current sequence.
As asked:
The optimal state (sequence) and the current state are two things. One cannot in advance say that any current state is the final optimal state.
public String toString() {
// Begin with as "best" solution the empty sequence.
int startBest = 0; // Starting index
int lengthBest = 0; // Length of sequence
// Determine sequences:
int startCurrent = 0; // Starting index of most current/last sequence
for (int i = 0; i < nums.size(); i++) {
// Can we add the current num to the current sequence?
if (i == startCurrent || nums.get(i).equals(nums.get(i - 1)))) {
// We can extend the current sequence with this i:
int lengthCurrent = i - startCurrent + 1;
if (lengthCurrent > lengthBest) { // Current length better?
// New optimum:
startBest = startCurrent;
lengthBest = lengthCurrent;
}
} else {
// A different num, start here.
// As we had already a real sequence (i != 0), no need for
// checking for a new optimum with length 1.
startCurrent = i;
}
}
// Now we found the best solution.
// Create the result:
StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder();
for (int i = 0; i < nums.size(); i++) {
result.append(nums.get(i));
}
// Insert the right ')' first as its index changes by 1 after inserting '('.
result.insert(startBest + lengthBest, ")");
result.insert(startBest, "(");
return result.toString();
}
The first problem is how to find the end of a sequence, and set the correct start of the sequence.
The problem with the original algorithm is that there is handled just one sequence (one subsequence start).
The way you have suggested could work. And then, if newcount is greater than oldcount, you'll want to store an additional number in another variable - the index of the where the longest sequence begins.
Then later, you can go and insert the ( at the position of that index.
i.e. if you have 11223456666.
The biggest sequence starts with the first number 6. That is at index 7, so store that 7 in a variable.
I think you need to iterate the entire list even though the current count is lower than the oldCount, what about e.g. 111224444?
Keep 4 variables while iterating the list: highestStartIndex, highestEndIndex, highestCount and currentCount. Iterate the entire list and use currentCount to count equal neighbouring numbers. Update the highest* variables when a completed currentCount is higher than highestCount. Lastly write the numbers out with paranthesis using the *Index variables.

Palindromes using Stacks and Queues

My NEW sample text i was testing: My mom is a good cook. Although sometimes at around noon she will leave and forget to make me lunch and some pop. #Old homework become relevant again
my problem is just that i am not getting the correct output, as my method only prints *Mom a noon i
This is all GUI based.I am reading in a file and checking for palindromes and printing them out in my JTextArea afterwards using Stacks and Queue's.
Issue is, all of this is working and when i start the program and attach the text file, i only get the first palindrome. SO it will print "mom" which is my first testcase, but it won't go to any of the other palindromes following it?
I thought i might have got bogged down in my code blocking at some point but after tinkering with it for a day now i'm sort of stuck.
EDIT 1: I am now getting more results
my method is,
public void fileDecode() throws FileNotFoundException
{
if (fileChoice.showOpenDialog(null) == JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION)
{
file = fileChoice.getSelectedFile();
scanInput = new Scanner(file);
while(scanInput.hasNext())
{
int nextPalindrome = 0;
int counter = 0;
String token = scanInput.next();
Stack<Character> stk = new Stack<Character>();
Queue<Character> que = new LinkedList<Character>();
for (int i = 0; i < token.length(); ++i)
{
stk.push(token.charAt(i)); //pushing all char's onto the stack/queue
que.add(token.charAt(i));
}
for (int j = 0; j < token.length(); ++j)
{
char tempStk = stk.pop(); //removing them one at a time and checking if they are equal and incrementing counter
char tempQue = que.remove();
if (tempStk == tempQue)
{
counter++;
}
}
if (counter == token.length())
{
build.append(token + " "); //if the counter # was the same as the token's length, than it is indeed a palindrome and we append it into our StringBuilder that we pass to the JTextArea
nextPalindrome = token.length();
}
}
}
}
You set counter to 0 outside your while loop, so the count of the second word is going to start at the count of the first word. Move counter = 0 inside the while loop and it should work.
Also, nextPalindrome doesn't appear to be used, and even if it is, if you set it at the bottom of the loop, it's immediately set to 0 at the top, so it will only remain non-zero if the last word is a palindrome.
Also, think about what's happening in the second for loop. You're looping over all the characters and comparing the one from the stack and the one from the queue. If ever those are different, you know you don't have a palindrome, so once you find a difference, it's pointless to continue with the loop. You also already have a loop counter, j, so you don't need another one. So I'd rewrite the second loop and following condition as follows:
for (int j = 0; j < token.length(); ++j)
{
char tempStk = stk.pop(); //removing them one at a time and checking if they are equal and incrementing counter
char tempQue = que.remove();
if (tempStk != tempQue)
break;
}
if (j == token.length())
That works because the only way j can equal token.length() after the loop is done is if the loop completed, which can only happen if no pairs of characters aren't equal (in other words, all pairs of characters are equal, which is what you want).

Remove every 3rd element in arraylist

I am trying to loop through an arraylist and gradually remove an element every 3 indices. Once it gets to the end of the arraylist I want to reset the index back to the beginning, and then loop through the arraylist again, again removing an element every 3 indices until there is only one element left in the arraylist.
The listOfWords is an array with a length of 3 that was previously filled.
int listIndex = 0;
do
{
// just to display contents of arraylist
System.out.println(listOfPlayers);
for(int wordIndex = 0; wordIndex < listOfWords.length; wordIndex++
{
System.out.print("Player");
System.out.print(listOfPlayers.get(wordIndex));
System.out.println("");
listIndex = wordIndex;
}
listOfPlayers.remove(listOfPlayers.get(listIndex));
}
while(listOfPlayers.size() > 1);
I have tried to implement for several hours yet I am still having trouble. Here's what happens to the elements of the arraylist:
1, 2, 3, 4
1, 2, 4
1, 2
Then it throws an 'index out of bounds error' exception when it checks for the third element (which no longer exists). Once it reaches the last element I want it to wrap around to the first element and continue through the array. I also want it to start where it left off and not from the beginning once it removes an element from the arraylist.
Maybe I have just missed the boat, but is this what you were after?
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Random;
public class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<Integer> numbers = new ArrayList<Integer>();
Random r = new Random();
//Populate array with ten random elements
for(int i = 0 ; i < 4; i++){
numbers.add(r.nextInt());
}
while(numbers.size() > 1){
for(int i = 0; i < numbers.size();i++){
if(i%3 == 0){//Every 3rd element should be true
numbers.remove(i);
}
}
}
}
}
You could move every third element to a temporary list then use List#removeAll(Collection) to remove the items when you finish each loop...until the master list was empty...
Lets back up and look at the problem algorithmically.
Start at the first item and start counting.
Go to the next item and increment your count. If there is no next item, go to the beginning.
If the count is '3', delete that item and reset count. (Or modulo.)
If there is one item left in the list, stop.
Lets write pseudocode:
function (takes a list)
remember what index in that list we're at
remember whether this is the item we want to delete.
loop until the list is size 1
increment the item we're looking at.
increment the delete count we're on
should we delete?
if so, delete!
reset delete count
are we at the end of the list?
if so, reset our index
Looking at it this way, it's fairly easy to translate this immediately into code:
public void doIt(List<String> arrayList) {
int index = 0;
int count = 0;
while(arrayList.size() != 1) {
index = index + 1;
count = count + 1; //increment count
String word = arrayList.get(index);//get next item, and do stuff with it
if (count == 3) {
//note that the [Java API][1] allows you to remove by index
arrayList.remove(index - 1);//otherwise you'll get an off-by-one error
count = 0; //reset count
}
if (index = arrayList.size()) {
index = 0; //reset index
}
}
}
So, you can see the trick is to think step by step what you're doing, and then slowly translate that into code. I think you may have been caught up on fixing your initial attempt: never be afraid to throw code out.
Try the following code. It keeps on removing every nth element in List until one element is left.
List<Integer> array = new ArrayList<>(Arrays.asList(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10));
int nth = 3;
int step = nth - 1;
int benchmark = 0;
while (array.size() > 1) {
benchmark += step;
benchmark = benchmark > array.size() - 1 ? benchmark % array.size() : benchmark;
System.out.println(benchmark);
array.remove(array.get(benchmark));
System.out.println(array);
}
You could use a counter int k that you keep incrementing by three, like k += 3. However, before you use that counter as an index to kick out any array element, check if you already went beyond and if so, subtract the length of this array from your counter k. Also make sure, to break out of your loop once you find out the array has only one element left.
int k = -1;
int sz = list.length;
while (sz > 1)
{
k += 3;
if (k >= sz)
{
k -= sz;
}
list.remove(k);
sz --;
}
This examples shows that you already know right away how often you will evict an element, i.e. sz - 1 times.
By the way, sz % 3 has only three possible results, 0, 1, 2. With a piece of paper and a cup of coffee you can find out what the surviving element will be depending on that, without running any loop at all!
You could try using an iterator. It's late irl so don't expect too much.
public removeThirdIndex( listOfWords ) {
Iterator iterator = listOfWords.iterator
while( iterator.hasNext() ){
iterator.next();
iterator.next();
iterator.next();
iterator.remove();
}
}
#Test
public void tester(){
// JUnit test > main
List listOfWords = ... // Add a collection data structure with "words"
while( listOfWords.size() < 3 ) {
removeThirdIndex( listOfWords ); // collections are mutable ;(
}
assertTrue( listOfWords.size() < 3 );
}
I would simply set the removed to null and then skip nulls in the inner loop.
boolean continue;
do {
continue = false;
for( int i = 2; i < list.length; i += 3 ){
while( list.item(i++) == null && i < list.length );
Sout("Player " + list.item(--i) );
continue = true;
}
} while (continue);
I'd choose this over unjustified shuffling of the array.
(The i++ and --i might seem ugly and may be rewritten nicely.)

Categories