We Keep Coding

Resizing an Array with a Dedicated method for upsize and downsizing

I'm fairly new to coding and am struggling with an assignment for my class. The program takes a user input for the size of an Array and prompts the user to enter each value 1 at a time. The array size starts at 3 and if the array needs to be bigger when the array has filled a new array that's 2x size is created and all info is copied into it. I was able to figure out this part but I just can't see what I'm doing wrong in the downsizing part. After the info is copied I have to remove the trailing zeroes. I think I have the downsize method right but I don't know if I'm calling it right
import java.util.Scanner;
public class Lab6 {
public static void main(String args[]) {
int[] myarray = new int[3];
int count = 0;
int limit, limitcount = 1;
Scanner kbd = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.print("How many values would you like to enter? ");
limit = kbd.nextInt();
while (limitcount <= limit) {
System.out.println("Enter an integer value ");
int input = kbd.nextInt();
limitcount++;
if (count < myarray.length) {
myarray[count] = input;
}
else {
myarray = upsize(myarray);
myarray[count] = input;
}
count++;
}
myarray = downsize(myarray, count)
printArray(myarray);
System.out.println("The amount of values in the arrays that we care about is: " + count);
}
static int[] upsize(int[] array) {
int[] bigger = new int[array.length * 2];
for (int i =0;i<array.length; i++) {
bigger[i] = array[i];
}
return bigger;
}
static void printArray( int[] array ) {
for ( int number : array ) {
System.out.print( number + " ");
}
System.out.println();
}
static int[] downsize(int[] array,int count) {
int[] smaller = new int[count];
for (int i =0; i<count; i++) {
smaller[i] = array[i];
}
return array;
}
}

Giving you a full response rather than a comment since you're new here and I don't want to discourage you with brevity which could be misunderstood.
Not sure what happened to your code when you pasted it in here, you've provided everything but the format is weird (the 'code' bit is missing out a few lines at the top and bottom). Might be one to double-check before posting. After posting, I see that someone else has already edited your code to fix this one.
You're missing a semi-colon. I'm not a fan of handing out answers, so I'll leave you to find it :) If you're running your code in an IDE, it should already be flagging that one up for you. If you're not, why on earth not??? IntelliJ is free, easy to get going with, and incredibly helpful. There are others out there as well which different folk prefer :) An IDE will help you spot all sorts of useful things quickly.
I have now run your code, and you do have a problem! It's in your final method, downsize(). Look very, very carefully at the return statement ;) Your questions suggests you aren't actually sure whether or not this method is right, which makes me wonder: have you actually run this code with different inputs to see what results you get? Please do that.
Style-wise: blank lines between methods would make the code easier to look at, by providing a visual gap between components. Please be consistent with putting your opening { on the same line as the method signature, and with having spaces between items, e.g. for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) rather than for (int i =0; i<count; i++). The compiler couldn't care less, but it is easier for humans to look at and just makes it look like you did care. Always a good thing!
I think it is awesome that you are separating some of the work into smaller methods. Seriously. For extra brownie points, think about how you could move that while() block into its own method, e.g. private int[] getUserData(int numberOfItems, Scanner scanner). Your code is great without this, but the more you learn to write tiny units, the more favours you will be doing your future self.
Has your class looked at unit testing yet? Trust me, if not, when you get to this you will realise just how important point 5 can be. Unit tests will also help a lot with issues such as the one in point 3 above.
Overall, it looks pretty good to me. Keep going!!!

Simple mistake in your downsize method. If you have an IDE like Eclipse, Intellij, etc. you would have seen it flagged right away.
return array; // should return smaller
I have a few suggestions since you mentioned being new to coding.
The "limitcount" variable can be removed and substituted with "count" at every instance. I'll leave it to you to figure that out.
Try using more descriptive and understandable variable names. Other people will read your code (like now) and appreciate it.
Try to use consistent spacing/indentation throughout your code.
Your upsize method can be simplified using a System.arraycopy() call which generally performs better and avoids the need for writing out a for loop. You can rewrite downsize in a similar manner.
static int[] upsize(int[] array) {
int[] bigger = new int[array.length * 2];
System.arraycopy(array, 0, bigger, 0, array.length);
return bigger;
}
Edit: All good points by sunrise above - especially that you've done well given your experience. You should set up an IDE when you have the time, they're simple to use and invaluable. When you do so you should learn to step through a debugger to explore the state of your program over time. In this case you would have noticed that the myarray variable was never reassigned after the downsize() call, quickly leading you to a solution (if you had missed the warning about an unused "smaller" array).

Iterating Through For Loop, ArrayIndexOutOfBounds

Tried changing around the for loop condition several times, still get ArrayIndexOutOfBounds when I pass zero as a parameter. Every other number works fine, I am trying to account for zero by setting it equal to zero automatically, am I doing that part incorrectly? Everything compiles and runs fine except for zero.
private static int iterativeCalculation(int userEntry)
{
int iterativeArray[] = new int[userEntry + 1];
iterativeArray[0] = 0;
iterativeArray[1] = 1;
for (int i = 2; i <= userEntry; i++)
{
iterativeArray[i] = (3 * iterativeArray[i - 1]) - (2 * iterativeArray[i - 2]);
iterativeEfficiencyCounter++;
}
return iterativeArray[userEntry];
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println(iterativeCalculation(0));
}
Tried debugging my way through the code, still not understanding what is going wrong. Would appreciate any help! Thanks!

When you pass zero as parameter, userEntry + 1 = 1.
But here:
iterativeArray[1] = 1;
You are trying to set the second element's value. Remember that length of array is one less than its actual size. So removing this line will fix it. Or use userEntry + 2 instead and alter your loop accordingly.
EDIT:
If you really want to fix first and second element, then use this instead:
int iterativeArray[] = new int[userEntry + 2];
iterativeArray[0] = 0;
iterativeArray[1] = 1;
This will create an array of adequate base size.
And remember, length you enter in [...] while creating array has to be one more than the actual length you want. Because actual array starts counting from 0.
In your case, you were setting length as 1 (minimum). That would create an array which can store only one element; that is iterativeArray[0] = //something. Anything above that is OutOfBounds.

You are setting iterativeArray[1] = 1; regardless of whether or not there are actually 2 or more items in the array. That will be out of bounds with one element.

I think you should step through the code in debugger to best understand what the problem is. You'll see exactly where it's got a problem if you single-step through the code. This is a fundamental technique and tool.

Create A Method In Java

Hello I am trying to create a method in Java that Accepts an integer from the user. Calculate and display how many occurences of the integer are in the array(i'm Creating a random array) as well as what percentage of the array values is the entered integer.
This is how i create my Array:
public void fillVector ( )
{
int myarray[] = new int [10];
for (int i = 0 ; i < 10 ; i++)
{
myarray [i] = (int) (Math.random () * 10);
}
}
Any sugestions how can i do to accomplish this ?

This seems like a homework to you so I am not gonna give you the full solution but I will break down the steps of what you need to do in order to solve your problem. You have to find out how to code those steps yourself, or at least provide some code and your specific problem because your question is too vague right now.
Ask the user to input the number.
Store that number somewhere.
Check each cell of the array for that number. If you find one appearance
increase the counter and continue until the end of your index.
Print out the appearances of the given number.
Print out the percentage of the cells containing the given value to the total amount of cells.
As I can see from your code (if it's yours) you are capable to pull this off on your own. It shouldn't be too hard.

Random number generator method for linked list assignment

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?

Problem with recursive backtracking

Hey guys, recently posted up about a problem with my algorithm.
Finding the numbers from a set which give the minimum amount of waste
Ive amended the code slightly, so it now backtracks to an extent, however the output is still flawed. Ive debugged this considerablychecking all the variable values and cant seem to find out the issue.
Again advice as opposed to an outright solution would be of great help. I think there is only a couple of problems with my code, but i cant work out where.
//from previous post:
Basically a set is passed to this method below, and a length of a bar is also passed in. The solution should output the numbers from the set which give the minimum amount of waste if certain numbers from the set were removed from the bar length. So, bar length 10, set includes 6,1,4, so the solution is 6 and 4, and the wastage is 0. Im having some trouble with the conditions to backtrack though the set. Ive also tried to use a wastage "global" variable to help with the backtracking aspect but to no avail.
SetInt is a manually made set implementation, which can add, remove, check if the set is empty and return the minimum value from the set.
/*
* To change this template, choose Tools | Templates
* and open the template in the editor.
*/
package recursivebacktracking;
/**
*
* #author User
*/
public class RecBack {
int WASTAGE = 10;
int BESTWASTAGE;
int BARLENGTH = 10;
public void work()
{
int[] nums = {6,1,2,5};
//Order Numbers
SetInt ORDERS = new SetInt(nums.length);
SetInt BESTSET = new SetInt(nums.length);
SetInt SOLUTION = new SetInt(nums.length);
//Set Declarration
for (int item : nums)ORDERS.add(item);
//Populate Set
SetInt result = tryCutting(ORDERS, SOLUTION, BARLENGTH, WASTAGE);
result.printNumbers();
}
public SetInt tryCutting(SetInt possibleOrders, SetInt solution, int lengthleft, int waste)
{
for (int i = 0; i < possibleOrders.numberInSet(); i++) // the repeat
{
int a = possibleOrders.min(); //select next candidate
System.out.println(a);
if (a <= lengthleft) //if accecptable
{
solution.add(a); //record candidate
lengthleft -= a;
WASTAGE = lengthleft;
possibleOrders.remove(a); //remove from original set
if (!possibleOrders.isEmpty()) //solution not complete
{
System.out.println("this time");
tryCutting(possibleOrders, solution, lengthleft, waste);//try recursive call
BESTWASTAGE = WASTAGE;
if ( BESTWASTAGE <= WASTAGE )//if not successfull
{
lengthleft += a;
solution.remove(a);
System.out.println("never happens");
}
} //solution not complete
}
} //for loop
return solution;
}
}

Instead of using backtracking, have you considered using a bitmask algorithm instead? I think it would make your algorithm much simpler.
Here's an outline of how you would do this:
Let N be number of elements in your set. So if the set is {6,1,2,5} then N would be 4. Let max_waste be the maximum waste we can eliminate (10 in your example).
int best = 0; // the best result so far
for (int mask = 1; mask <= (1<<N)-1; ++mask) {
// loop over each bit in the mask to see if it's set and add to the sum
int sm = 0;
for (int j = 0; j < N; ++j) {
if ( ((1<<j)&mask) != 0) {
// the bit is set, add this amount to the total
sm += your_set[j];
// possible optimization: if sm is greater than max waste, then break
// out of loop since there's no need to continue
}
}
// if sm <= max_waste, then see if this result produces a better one
// that our current best, and store accordingly
if (sm <= max_waste) {
best = max(max_waste - sm);
}
}
This algorithm is very similar to backtracking and has similar complexity, it just doesn't use recursion.
The bitmask basically is a binary representation where 1 indicates that we use the item in the set, and 0 means we don't. Since we are looping from 1 to (1<<N)-1, we are considering all possible subsets of the given items.
Note that running time of this algorithm increases very quickly as N gets larger, but with N <= around 20 it should be ok. The same limitation applies with backtracking, by the way. If you need faster performance, you'd need to consider another technique like dynamic programming.
For the backtracking, you just need to keep track of which element in the set you are on, and you either try to use the element or not use it. If you use it, you add it to your total, and if not, you proceeed to the next recursive call without increasing your total. Then, you decrement the total (if you incremented it), which is where the backtracking comes in.
It's very similar to the bitmask approach above, and I provided the bitmask solution to help give you a better understanding of how the backtracking algorithm would work.
EDIT
OK, I didn't realize you were required to use recursion.
Hint1
First, I think you can simplify your code considerably by just using a single recursive function and putting the logic in that function. There's no need to build all the sets ahead of time then process them (I'm not totally sure that's what you're doing but it seems that way from your code). You can just build the sets and then keep track of where you are in the set. When you get to the end of the set, see if your result is better.
Hint2
If you still need more hints, try to think of what your backtracking function should be doing. What are the terminating conditions? When we reach the terminating condition, what do we need to record (e.g. did we get a new best result, etc.)?
Hint3
Spoiler Alert
Below is a C++ implementation to give you some ideas, so stop reading here if you want to work on it some more by yourself.
int bestDiff = 999999999;
int N;
vector< int > cur_items;
int cur_tot = 0;
int items[] = {6,1,2,5};
vector< int > best_items;
int max_waste;
void go(int at) {
if (cur_tot > max_waste)
// we've exceeded max_waste, so no need to continue
return;
if (at == N) {
// we're at the end of the input, see if we got a better result and
// if so, record it
if (max_waste - cur_tot < bestDiff) {
bestDiff = max_waste - cur_tot;
best_items = cur_items;
}
return;
}
// use this item
cur_items.push_back(items[at]);
cur_tot += items[at];
go(at+1);
// here's the backtracking part
cur_tot -= items[at];
cur_items.pop_back();
// don't use this item
go(at+1);
}
int main() {
// 4 items in the set, so N is 4
N=4;
// maximum waste we can eliminiate is 10
max_waste = 10;
// call the backtracking algo
go(0);
// output the results
cout<<"bestDiff = "<<bestDiff<<endl;
cout<<"The items are:"<<endl;
for (int i = 0; i < best_items.size(); ++i) {
cout<<best_items[i]<<" ";
}
return 0;
}