CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++stringfunctionchar
CritAnnihilation
CritAnnihilation

Reputation: 39

How to Count a Type of Character that Appears in a String Using a Function in C++?

The goal of my assignment is to write a C++ program that takes in two variables, a character value and a string value. The program is then, with the use of a user-defined function called int CountCharacters() the program is supposed to count the number of times that the user inputted character value is in the user inputted string value.

So far I have been able to code what I think at least is a good foundation, but when I run it, I get a crazy big number that also changes each time I run the program.

Below is the program that I have written so far:

Tested Input: n Monday

Expected Output: 1

Received Output: 22091

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int CountCharacters(char userChar, string userString)  {
   
   int casesFound = 0;
   int n = userString.length();
   
   for (int i = 1; i < n; i++)  {
      if (userString[i] == userChar)  {
         casesFound = casesFound + 1;
      }
   }
   
   return casesFound;
}

int main() {
   
   char cVal;
   string sVal;
   int casesFound;
   
   cin >> cVal;
   getline(cin, sVal);
   
   CountCharacters(cVal, sVal);
   
   cout << casesFound << endl;

   return 0;
}

Upvotes: 0

Views: 121

Answers (1)

Coder777
Coder777

Reputation: 59

The reason you got different numbers is that you output casesFound without assigning a value to it. Reading uninitialized variables makes your program have undefined behavior - so anything could happen. If your function returned 1 it wouldn't have mattered because you do not assign that value to casesFound. You can assign the value of your function returned to casesfound like this:

casesFound = CountCharacters(cVal,sVal);

And then proceed to

cout<<casesFound;

Or you could print the returned value directly without assigning it to a variable:

std::cout << CountCharacters(cVal, sVal) << '\n';

Also note that you have bug in your loop. The first index in arrays and strings etc. is 0 in C++, not 1, so you wouldn't be able to count the M in Monday.

Upvotes: 1

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