[prog] C++

[Conor Daly]

On Fri, Dec 12, 2003 at 08:03:36PM -0500 or so it is rumoured hereabouts, 
wolf thought:
> Oh thank you : )
> 
> so then largest is:
> 
> int largest;
> 
>          if(integer1 > integer2) {
>                  if(integer1 > integer3) {
>                          largest = integer1;
>                  }
>                  else {
>                          largest = integer3;
>                  }
>          }
>          else if(integer2 > integer3) {
>                  largest = integer2;
>          }
>          else {
>                  largest = integer3;
>          }
> 
>           std::cout << "The largest is " << largest << std::endl;

Or you could do:

int largest;

largest = integer1;

if(integer2 > largest) {
    largest = integer2;
}

if(integer3 > largest) {
    largest = integer3;
}

This compares each integer with the current largest much like Mary's
description.  Your example above is workable for three numbers but rapidly
becomes complex.  Let's see how it looks for four numbers:

int integer1, integer2, integer3, integer4;
int largest;

if(integer1 > integer2) {
	if(integer1 > integer3) {
		if(integer1 > integer4) {
			largest = integer1;
		}
		else {
			largest = integer4;
		}
	}
	else if(integer3 > integer4) {
		largest = integer3;
	}
	else {
		largest = integer4;
	}
}
else if(integer2 > integer3) {
	if(integer2 > integer4) {
		largest = integer2;
	}
	else {
		largest = integer4;
	}
}
else if(integer3 > integer4) {
	largest = integer3;
}
else {
	largest = integer4;
}


I think that's right but I haven't checked.  See how long it takes you to
go through that and see if it's correct.  So, what works for something
small is often not the best solution.  

Conor
-- 
Conor Daly <conor.daly at oceanfree.net>

Domestic Sysadmin :-)
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