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I am preparing for an exam next week, and I decided to look for some exam questions online for better preparation.
I came across this question and the answer is c. But I really want to know how or the step by step process to answer to answer a question like this. The part where I got stuck is trying to logically understand how a int m = mystery(n); How can a number equal a method? Whenever I get to a question like this is their anything important I should breakdown first?
private int[] myStuff;
/** Precondition : myStuff contains int values in no particular order.
/*/
public int mystery(int num)
{
for (int k = myStuff.length - 1; k >= 0; k--)
{
if (myStuff[k] < num)
{
return k;
}
}
return -1;
}
Which of the following best describes the contents of myStuff after the
following statement has been executed?
int m = mystery(n);
(a) All values in positions 0 through m are less than n.
(b) All values in positions m+1 through myStuff.length-1 are
less than n.
(c) All values in positions m+1 through myStuff.length-1 are
greater than or equal to n.
(d) The smallest value is at position m.
(e) The largest value that is smaller than n is at position m.
See this page to understand a method syntax
http://www.tutorialspoint.com/java/java_methods.htm
int m = mystery(n); means this method going to return int value and you are assigning that value to a int variable m. So your final result is m. the loop will run from the array's end position to 0. loop will break down when array's current position value is less than your parameter n. on that point it will return the loop's current position. s o now m=current loop position. If all the values of the loop is greater than n it will return -1 because if condition always fails.
Place the sample code into a Java IDE such as Eclipse, Netbeans or IntelliJ and then step through the code in the debugger in one of those environments.
Given that you are starting out I will give you the remainder of the code that you need to make this compile and run
public class MysteriousAlright {
private int[] myStuff;
public int mystery(int num)
{
for (int k = myStuff.length - 1; k >= 0; k--) {
if (myStuff[k] < num) {
return k;
}
}
return -1;
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
MysteriousAlright ma = new MysteriousAlright();
ma.setMyStuff(new int[] {4,5,6,7});
int m = ma.mystery(5);
System.out.println("I called ma.mystery(5) and now m is set to " + m);
m = ma.mystery(3);
System.out.println("I called ma.mystery(3) and now m is set to " + m);
m = ma.mystery(12);
System.out.println("I called ma.mystery(12) and now m is set to " + m);
}
public void setMyStuff(int[] myStuff) {
this.myStuff = myStuff;
}
}
You then need to learn how to use the debugger and/or write simple Unit Tests.
Stepping through the code a line at a time and watching the values of the variables change will help you in this learning context.
Here are two strategies that you can use to breakdown nonsense code like that which you have sadly encountered in this "educational" context.
Black Box examination Strategy
Temporarily ignore the logic in the mystery function, we treat the function as a black box that we cannot see into.
Look at what data gets passed in, what data is returned.
So for the member function called mystery we have
What goes in? : int num
What gets returned : an int, so a whole number.
There are two places where data is returned.
Sometimes it returns k
Sometimes it returns -1
Now we move on.
White Box examination Strategy
As the code is poorly written, a black box examination is insufficient to interpret its purpose.
A white box reading takes examines the member function's internal logic (In this case, pretty much the for loop)
The for loop visits every element in the array called myStuff, starting at the end of the array
k is the number that tracks the position of the visited element of the array. (Note we count down from the end of the array to 0)
If the number stored at the visited element is less than num (which is passed in) then return the position of that element..
If none of elements of the array are less than num then return -1
So mystery reports on the first position of the element in the array (starting from the end of the array) where num is bigger than that element.
do you understand what a method is ?
this is pretty basic, the method mystery receives an int as a parameter and returns an int when you call it.
meaning, the variable m will be assigned the value that returns from the method mystery after you call it with n which is an int of some value.
"The part where I got stuck is trying to logically understand how a int m = mystery(n); How can a number equal a method?"
A method may or may not return a value. One that doesn't return a value has a return type of void. A method can return a primitive value (like in your case int) or an object of any class. The name of the return type can be any of the eight primitive types defined in Java, the name of any class, or an interface.
If a method doesn't return a value, you can't assign the result of that method to a variable.
If a method returns a value, the calling method may or may not bother to store the returned value from a method in a variable.
Related
I have the method below that gets a two-dimensional array and a value. The method check if the value be in the array or not.
I don't understand why do I need the line of code that I highlighted in bold (if (m[i][m[i].length-1] <= val).
It Looks that the code works without this line as well... Why do I still need this line, can someone explain me please? thanks
public static boolean findValWhat (int[][] m, int val)
{
for (int i = 0; i < m.length; i++) {
**if (m[i][m[i].length-1] <= val){**
if (binarySearch(m[i], val) == val){
return true;
}
}
}
return false;
}
The code will still work without it but is makeing it run faster.
Lets say you have this sorted 2d array:
[[1,2,3],[4,5,6],[7,8,9]]
Then you can see that if you are searching for 8 you don't need to do binary search for the first line because 3 is smaller then 8 and he is the biggest number in there.
You can even make this code batter by doing binary search instead of the loop.
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public static boolean sum_rec(int[] A, int n, int k) {
return addition(A, n, k, 0);
} // end sum_rec
private static boolean addition(int[] A, int n, int k, int i) {
if (k == A[i] + A[n - 1 - i]) {
return true;
}
else if (n == 1){
return false;
}
else
return addition(A, n, k, i++);
}
Hi, I am getting stackoverflow error whenever I try to run the following code. It returns true if there are any two numbers in array that sum up to a value k but I cant seem to find the error. Any help will be appreciated. Also what is the running time of this?
You need a base case that will end the recursion (return false) in the case that
k == A[i]+A[n-1-i]
is never true.
n == 1 is not that base case since n doesn't change during the recursion ... a base case that depends on the variable that changes during recursion
There are multiple problems with your code. One that hasn't been pointed out yet is that you think you're calling the method recursively by adding 1 to the last parameter, but you're not. This line:
return addition(A, n, k, i++);
has a post-increment operator. This means that it will add 1 to i but it will use the old value of i as the parameter. So it's the same as:
int oldValueOfI = i;
i = i + 1;
return addition(A, n, k, oldValueOfI);
You can see that you're calling the method recursively with the exact same values that it was called last time, so of course it will recurse infinitely. Although I wouldn't use recursion for this program, if you really want to, change the call to
return addition(A, n, k, i + 1);
You're not going to use i afterwards, so you don't need to change the value. (Note that each recursive call has its own i variable; the variable is not shared between the calls. So incrementing i will not have any impact on the i used by the next recursive call, the previous recursive call, or any other recursive call.)
Also note that this will not solve your problem, but making this change might help you figure out what to do next when your program starts blowing up on a different exception.
I already searched everywhere for a solution for my problem, but didn't get one. So what I'm trying to do ist use recursion to find out whats a passed integer variable's base to the power of the passed exponent. So for example 3² is 9. My solution really looks like what I found in these forums, but it constantly gives me a stack overflow error. Here is what I have so far.(To make it easier, I tried it with the ints directly not using scanner to test my recursion) Any idea?
public class Power {
public static int exp(int x,int n) {
n = 3;
x = 2;
if (x == 0) {
return 1;
}
else {
return n * exp(n,x-1);
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println(exp(2,3));
}
}
Well, you've got three problems.
First, inside of the method, you're reassigning x and n. So, regardless of what you pass in, x is always 2, and n is always 3. This is the main cause of your infinite recursion - as far as the method is concerned, those values never update. Remove those assignments from your code.
Next, your base case is incorrect - you want to stop when n == 0. Change your if statement to reflect that.
Third, your recursive step is wrong. You want to call your next method with a reduction to n, not to x. It should read return x * exp(x, n-1); instead.
I am trying to learn recursion in Java and have an array that takes in continuous input until the Scanner reads in a 0.
From there I have a method that (attempts) to calculate the number of positive integers in the array using recursion. This is the first recursive function I have ever written and I keep getting a stackoverflow error.
I have read tutorials and I still can't wrap my head around the basic understanding of recursion.
public class reuncF {
private static int start = 0;
private static int end = 98;
public static void main(String[] args) {
input = input.nextDouble();
list[i] = numInput;
computeSumPositive(numList, count);
}
}
return positives += solve(numbers, count++);
}
}
You forgot to stop your recursion!
There has to be some case where computeSumPositive returns without calling itself again. Otherwise it'll just keep going forever, never getting back to you.
If you did it with a loop, the loop would look like this:
int positives = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < numList.length; ++i) {
if (numList[i] > 0) {
positives++;
}
}
To do that recursively, you just find out what are the variables used in the loop. They are i, numList and positives.
computeSumPositive(int i, double[] numList, int positives)
Then we take a look at what the loop does. First, it checks whether we went too far,
so our recursive function should do that too. It'll have to return instead of just falling through like the loop does. And obviously, it must return the result:
{
if (! (i < numList.length))
return positives;
The loop then does the test and maybe increments positives, so the recursive function should also do that:
if (numList[i] > 0) {
positives++;
}
At the end of the loop, i is updated:
i++;
The loop just starts over, but the recursive function will have to call itself. Of course, we want it to use the new value of i and positives, but fortunately we updated those, so now we can just do:
return computeSumPositives (i, numList, positives);
}
The tricky bit is that the values i, numList, and are local to each call. Each invocation of computeSumPositives can see only the arguments it were given. If it changes them, none of the other invocation can see that change.
EDIT: So if we, for reasons we can only speculate about, wanted desperately for computeSumPositive to take only 2 parameters, we would have to "split up" positives across each invocation. Each invocation knows whether or not its number was positive or not; all we have to do is add them. Then it looks like this:
computeSumPositive(int i, double[] numList)
{
if (! (i < numList.length))
return 0; // I didn't find any at index i
if (numList[i] > 0) {
// Theres one I found + however many my later
// invocations will find.
return 1 + computeSumPositive (i+1, numList);
} else {
// I didn't find any, but my later invocations might.
return computeSumPositive (i+1, numList);
}
}
I find it helpful, when dealing with recursion, to figure out the termination case first.
It looks like you are treating 'count' as an index. So you could check if your at the last index in the array, if so and if the value is positive return a 1, if the value is non-positive return a 0 - dont recurse anymore.
If your not at the last index, and the value is positive return a 1 + the recursive function call, or if the value is non-positive just continue to recurse.
This will still cause a stack overflow for large arrays.
The value of count++ is the same as the value of count; the program uses the value and then increments it. But the result is that computeSumPositive keeps calling itself with the same value of count, which leads to infinite recursion. Note that each time computeSumPositive calls another computeSumPositive, each call has its own copy of the parameters (like count) and the local variables; so incrementing one computeSumPositive's copy of count has no effect on the value of count used by other recursive calls.
Change count++ to count + 1, and also add a way to halt the recursion. (At some point, you will be calling computeSumPositive to look at zero integers, and at that point, it should just return 0 and not call itself. You need to think about: how do you test whether you've reached that point?)
So, I have to make a random number generator to get numbers ranging from 0 to 400. I'm putting these into an array and then sorting them later on. I just am not sure how to go about doing this. I was given something along the lines of;
public int nextInt(400) //gives me errors
{
random.setSeed(12345L);
for (int i = 0; i < arr.size; i++)
{
val = random.nextInt(400);
a[i] = val;
}
}
I've already called the random class, since the directions indicated that. I just don't know why this is not working. It's giving me errors especially with the first part; class, interface, or enum expected. Could somebody steer me in the right direction please?
Functions in Java (all programming languages) have "variables" in their definition.
You've got:
public int nextInt(400)
Over here, you want your 400 to be a value that is passed to the function.
Think of this as math. I'm sure you've dealt with something like f(x) = 2 * x. Here, x is the variable, and you "evaluate" f(x) with a value for x. Similarly, in programming, we'd have something like :
public int nextInt(int x)
As you see, our function defines x to be of type int. This is necessary in a language like Java because you're telling the compiler that this function will only accept integers for x.
Now that you've done that, you can use x as a variable in the body of your function.
Note that whenever you use a variable, it first has to be defined. A line such as:
int variable;
defines variable as an int.
Your program is missing these for random, val, arr, and a. Note here that arr and a are arrays (and somehow I get the feeling that they should not be two separate variables).
You should really brush up on variables definitions, arrays, and functions before attempting this question. Your best resource would be your textbook, because it'll explain everything in an organized, step-by-step manner. You can also try the many tutorials that are available online. If you have specific questions, you can always come back to StackOverflow and I'm sure you'll find help here.
Good luck!
You need to define this function within a class definition
even you have specified :
public int nextInt(400)
in this line function returns int and in your whole body u didn't have any return statement.
and yes as Kshitij Mehata suggested dont use 400 directly as value use variable over there.
this should be your function:
public int[] nextInt(int x) //gives me errors
{
random.setSeed(12345L);
int[] a=new int[arr.size];
for (int i = 0; i < arr.size; i++)
{
val = random.nextInt(400);
a[i] = val;
}
return a;
}
even there is some issue with arr from where this arr come?