To solve this month’s Exercise you had to figure out a way to divvy up a dollar amount into the proper number of quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies. As with many programming puzzles, a number of ways exist to code a solution. Click here to view mine.
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Author Archives: dgookin
Just Keep Asking
As you frist explore programming, you may find yourself presented with a common puzzle: How to fetch proper input from a stubborn user. The solution is something I call the Just Keep Asking loop.
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Making Change
This month’s challenge is to calculate the number of quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies required when given a specific dollar amount. It’s something fast food cashiers should know, but apparently they don’t! So maybe your solution to this exercise could help them.
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The Factorial Recursion
It’s the example of recursion most often used, but it’s not the best example. Of course, to illustrate a better example you need to approach concepts such as fractals and graphical programming doodads. My favorite form of recursion is traversing a directory tree. Regardless, the code for a factorial recursion remains the go-to workhorse.
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An Example of Recursion
A recursive function calls itself. That’s a strange and beautiful concept, one that saves a lot of coding time, but how does it really work?
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Introduction to Recursion
It’s truly a scary thing: A function calls itself. This trick can be done without damage to the space-time continuum, and nothing explodes when it’s done correctly.
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From Text to Integer – Solution
This month’s Exercise is to code a function that converts a string of text numbers into an integer value. If you used the skeleton provided, then your program’s output would look like this:
The string 24680 represents value 24680.Functions in Functions!
For an argument, functions in the C language can take literal values, equations, the result from another function, or any combination of these items. It’s a feature that’s both flexible and confusing.
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From Text to Integer
A program prompts for a value. The user types “12345” at the keyboard, but that input is a string and not the value 12,345. Therefore, the code must convert the string into a value. This task can be accomplished in a number of ways.
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How a for Loop Works
I received an interesting question the other day. A student asked me to explain a for loop. Dutifully, I set out and gave my description, which he found entirely baffling. So I backed up again and gave this explanation:
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