CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++factorial
user2658447
user2658447

Reputation: 23

C++ BEGINNER factorial program, confusing output

I'm doing intro to C++ on MIT OCW and the following code is given in the professors first problem set as a basic program to calculate factorials, with a few related questions.

#include <iostream>
using std::cout;
using std::cin;
int main () 
{
    short number;
    cout << "Enter a number: ";
    cin >> number;
    cout << "The factorial of " << number << " is ";
    int accumulator = 1;
    for(; number > 0; accumulator = (accumulator * (number--)));
    cout << accumulator << '.\n';
    system("pause>nul");
    return 0;
}

The first question is: "What do you get when you enter the following values: 0, 1, 2, 9, 10?"

The answers section reads, "0: 1; 1: 1; 2: 2; 9: 362880; 10: 3628800," but that is not what happens for me. My program outputs "11768" proceeding each apparently correct answer, and I have no idea why.

The answer set I see: "0: 111768; 1: 111768; 2: 211768; 9: 36288011768; 10: 362880011768"

Perhaps there's something wrong in the code, but I don't see it. I am using Visual Studio 2012. Maybe someone has an idea? Thanks for your time.

Upvotes: 2

Views: 567

Answers (2)

eldorz
eldorz

Reputation: 155

Probably should learn to use endl, or you will get confused by unflushed streams at some point. I know I have. Not saying this is an unflushed stream problem, but OP would not have had this problem if he habitually used endl.

Upvotes: 2

Michael Goldshteyn
Michael Goldshteyn

Reputation: 74390

Change:

cout << accumulator << '.\n';

To:

cout << accumulator << ".\n";

The compiler is converting the multi-character literal '.\n' into the integer 11768. This behavior is implementation defined.

Upvotes: 7

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