[south73paw]

Hi

I'm a beginner to C as a precursor to learning Objective-C although I've coded in VB .NET and (a long time ago) Javascript and ActionScript.

My exercise is to count backwards from 99 to 0 outputting a message if the number is divisible by 5. I'm able to do this, but can only decrease the counter by one each time. How can I get it to count down in 3s, for example? I tried adding

i = i - 3

after if statement, but it seemed to take off 4 - I'm guess i-- was being included to??

My code so far is:

int main (int argc, const char * argv[])
{
    //counter
    int i;
    //count down from 99 to 0
    for (i = 99; i >= 0; i--) {
        //output value of counter
        printf("%d \n", i);
        //check if value of counter is divisble by 5
        if (i % 5 == 0) {
            //output if number divisible by 5
            printf("Found one! \n");
            //break this iteration
            continue;
        }
       //decrease counter by 3 each time
       i = i - 3;
    }
    return 0;
}

Thanks for the help!

[r.stiltskin]

(i = 99; i >= 0; i-=3) {

[south73paw]

Thanks!
Can't believe I missed that....
Doh!

Cheers

[Karel-Lodewijk]

"i = i - 3" is correct, the reason it decreases by f4 is because the loop also decreases i by one.

for (i = 99; i >= 0; i--)

You can avoid this by just putting nothing there

for (i = 99; i >= 0;)

Or decrease by 3 right there in the loop.

for (i = 99; i >= 0; i = i - 3)

You can also use the shorthand "i -= 3", which is the same as "i = i-3"

This post has been edited by Karel-Lodewijk: 17 December 2011 - 08:44 PM

[jimblumberg]

Your counter is being decremented in the for loop and also your i = i - 3; line. If you want the loop to decrement the counter by three then do it in the for loop:
for (i = 99; i >= 0; i-=3) You should never really change this value outside of your loop construct.

Jim

This post has been edited by jimblumberg: 17 December 2011 - 08:45 PM

[south73paw]

Karel-Lodewijk, on 17 December 2011 - 08:43 PM, said:

"i = i - 3" is correct, the reason it decreases by f4 is because the loop also decreases i by one.

Yes, figured that's what was happening.



You can avoid this by just putting nothing there

for (i = 99; i >= 0;)

Ok, didn't realize you could remove some of the items in the first line of the for loop

Or decrease by 3 right there in the loop.

for (i = 99; i >= 0; i = i - 3)

I had been putting just i = 3, which caused an error. See the problem now.

You can also use the shorthand "i -= 3", which is the same as "i = i-3"

Must admit that I'd forgotten about this. It's the same shorthand in VB too. Doh on my part!

Thanks for the insight. Cheers!

Quote

for (i = 99; i >= 0; i-=3) You should never really change this value outside of your loop construct.

Jim

So add the step value in the first line of the for loop only.
It seems to be tidier that way.

Cheers!

This post has been edited by south73paw: 17 December 2011 - 08:49 PM

[Karel-Lodewijk]

south73paw, on 17 December 2011 - 08:48 PM, said:

Ok, didn't realize you could remove some of the items in the first line of the for loop

You can remove all items in the for loop if you want to.

for (;;)/> {}

Will just loop infinitely.

[south73paw]

[/quote]

You can remove all items in the for loop if you want to.

for (;;)/> {}

Will just loop infinitely.
[/quote]

Interesting...
Thx