I have the following code in C:
#define CONST 1200
int a = 900;
int b = 1050;
int c = 1400;
if (A_CLOSEST_TO_CONST) {
// do something
}
What is a convenient way to check whether if a is the closest value to CONST among a,b and c ?
Edit:
It doesn't matter if I have 3 variables or an array like this (it could be more than 3 elements):
int values[3] = {900, 1050, 1400};
This works for three variables:
if (abs(a - CONST) <= abs(b - CONST) && abs(a - CONST) <= abs(c - CONST)) {
// a is the closest
}
This works with an array of one or more elements, where n is the number of elements:
int is_first_closest(int values[], int n) {
int dist = abs(values[0] - CONST);
for (int i = 1; i < n; ++i) {
if (abs(values[i] - CONST) < dist) {
return 0;
}
}
return 1;
}
See it working online: ideone
Compare the absolute value of (a-CONST), (b-CONST) and (c-CONST). Whichever absolute value is lowest, that one is closest.
Here is a generalized method. The min_element() function takes an int array, array size, and pointer to a comparison function. The comparison predicate returns true if the first values is less than the second value. A function that just returned a < b would find the smallest element in the array. The pinouchon() comparison predicate performs your closeness comparison.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#define CONST 1200
int pinouchon(int a, int b)
{
return abs(a - CONST) < abs(b - CONST);
}
int min_element(const int *arr, int size, int(*pred)(int, int))
{
int i, found = arr[0];
for (i = 1; i < size; ++i)
{
if (pred(arr[i], found)) found = arr[i];
}
return found;
}
int main()
{
int values[3] = {900, 1050, 1400};
printf("%d\n", min_element(values, 3, pinouchon));
return 0;
}
I m adding something in Mark Byres code.....
int is_first_closest(int values[]) {
int dist = abs(values[0] - CONST),closest; //calculaing first difference
int size = sizeof( values ) //calculating the size of array
for (int i = 1; i < size; ++i) {
if (abs(values[i] - CONST) < dist) { //checking for closest value
dist=abs(values[i] - CONST); //saving closest value in dist
closest=i; //saving the position of the closest value
}
}
return values[i];
}
This function will take an array of integers and return the number which is closest to the CONST.
You need to compare your constant to every element. (works well for 3 elements but it's a very bad solution for bigger elementcount, in which case i suggest using some sort of divide and conquer method). After you compare it, take their differences, the lowest difference is the one that the const is closest to)
This answer is a reaction to your edit of the original question and your comment.
(Notice that to determine the end of array we could use different approaches, the one i shall use in this particular scenario is the simplest one.)
// I think you need to include math.h for abs() or just implement it yourself.
// The code doesn't deal with duplicates.
// Haven't tried it so there might be a bug lurking somewhere in it.
const int ArraySize = <your array size>;
const int YourConstant = <your constant>;
int values[ArraySize] = { ... <your numbers> ... };
int tempMinimum = abs(YourArray[0] - YourConstant); // The simplest way
for (int i = 1; i < ArraySize; i++) { // Begin with iteration i = 1 since you have your 0th difference computed already.
if (abs(YourArray[i] - YourConstant) < tempMinumum) {
tempMinumum = abs(YourArray[i] - YourConstant);
}
}
// Crude linear approach, not the most efficient.
For a large sorted set, you should be able to use a binary search to find the two numbers which (modulo edge cases) border the number, one of those has to be the closest.
So you would be able to achieve O(Log n) performance instead of O(n).
pseudocode:
closest_value := NULL
closest_distance := MAX_NUMBER
for(value_in_list)
distance := abs(value_in_list - CONST)
if (distance < closest_distance)
closest_value := value_in_list
closest_distance := distance
print closest_value, closest_distance
Related
I was just wondering how you would get the closest value to the mean, the program retrieves input from the user and then outputs a 2D array, within the two ranges the user inputted. It then also outputs lowest and highest array values, the mean(all of this has been coded), I'm just unsure how to write a function to return the closest value in the array to the mean and then the location within the array.
Subtract the mean value from each element.
Take the absolute value of the result.
Store the position and element which have lowest difference.
int fnFindClosestVal(int arn2DArray[][6], int nRows, int nCols, double nTotal, int *posRow, int *posCol)
{
int nClosestValue = arn2DArray[0][0];
int nDiff = abs(arn2DArray[0][0] - nTotal);
int Row,Col;
for (nCountRows = 0; nCountRows < nRows; nCountRows++)
{
for (nCountCols = 0; nCountCols < nCols; nCountCols++)
{
if(abs(arn2DArray[nCountRows][nCountCols] - nTotal) < nDiff)
{
nDiff = abs(arn2DArray[nCountRows][nCountCols] - nTotal);
nClosestValue = arn2DArray[nCountRows][nCountCols];
*posRow = nCountRows;
*posCol = nCountCols;
}
}
}
return nClosestValue;
}
I'm trying to write a C program to take an array of discrete positive integers and find the length of the longest increasing subsequence.
'int* a' is the array of randomly generated integers, which is of length 'int b'
call:
lis_n = answer(seq, seq_size);
function:
int answer(int* a, int b) {
if (a == NULL) {return -1;}
int i = 0;
int j = 0;
int k = 0;
//instantiate max and set it to 0
int max = 0;
//make an array storing all included numbers
int included[b];
memset(included, 0, b*sizeof(int));
//create a pointer to the index in included[] with the largest value
int indexMax = 0;
//create a pointer to the index in a[]
int indexArray = 0;
//index of a[] for max included
int maxToA = 0;
//set the first included number to the first element in a[]
included[indexMax] = a[indexArray];
//loop until break
while (1) {
if (a[indexArray] > included[indexMax]/*digit greater than last included*/) {
//include the digit
included[indexMax+1] = a[indexArray];
//increment current max pointer
indexMax++;
}
j = b - 1;
while (indexArray >= j/*pointer is at end"*/) {
if (j == (b - 1)) {
if ((indexMax+1) > max/*total is greater than current max*/) {
max = indexMax + 1;
}
}
if (a[b-1] == included[0]/*last element is in included[0], stop*/) {
return max;
} else {
//max included is set to zero
included[indexMax] = 0;
//max included pointer decreased
indexMax--;
//set array pointer to new max included
for (k=0;k<(b-1);k++) {
if (a[k] == included[indexMax]) {
indexArray = k;
}
}
//increment array pointer
indexArray++;
j--;
}
}
indexArray++;
printf("(");
for (i=0;i<b;i++) {
printf("%d,",included[i]);
}
printf(")");
}
}
I'm receiving 'Segmentation fault (core dumped)' in the terminal upon running.
Any help would be awesome.
You have declared
int indexMax = 0;
And here you use it as an array index
incuded[indexMax] = 0;
You increment and decrement it
indexMax++;
...
indexMax--;
You check its range but you don't limit it, you alter the value you compare it with
if ((indexMax+1) > max/*total is greater than current max*/) {
max = indexMax + 1;
}
You never check indexMax against b or with 0
int included[b];
So you are almost guaranteed to exceed the bounds of included[].
Some general points of advice. Make your function and variable names meaningful. Avoid making a premature exit from a function wherever possible. Avoid while(1) wherever possible. And never make assumptions about array sizes (including C "strings"). It might seem hard work putting in the overhead, but there is a payoff. The payoff is not just about catching unexpected errors, it makes you think about the code you are writing as you do it.
I've done something like this for homework before. I got help from:
https://codereview.stackexchange.com/questions/30491/maximum-subarray-problem-iterative-on-algorithm
Make sure you are not trying to index past the size of your array. What I would do would be to find out the size of array a[] (which looks like it is b) and subtract 1. Make sure you are not trying to access past the size of the array.
How do you write a function that finds max value in an array as well as the number of times the value appears in the array?
We have to use recursion to solve this problem.
So far i am thinking it should be something like this:
int findMax(int[] a, int head, int last)
{
int max = 0;
if (head == last) {
return a[head];
}
else if (a[head] < a[last]) {
count ++;
return findMax(a, head + 1, last);
}
}
i am not sure if this will return the absolute highest value though, and im not exactly sure how to change what i have
Setting the initial value of max to INT_MIN solves a number of issues. #Rerito
But the approach OP uses iterates through each member of the array and incurs a recursive call for each element. So if the array had 1000 int there would be about 1000 nested calls.
A divide and conquer approach:
If the array length is 0 or 1, handle it. Else find the max answer from the 1st and second halves. Combine the results as appropriate. By dividing by 2, the stack depth usage for a 1000 element array will not exceed 10 nested calls.
Note: In either approach, the number of calls is the same. The difference lies in the maximum degree of nesting. Using recursion where a simple for() loop would suffice is questionable. To conquer a more complex assessment is recursion's strength, hence this approach.
To find the max and its frequency using O(log2(length)) stack depth usage:
#include <stddef.h>
typedef struct {
int value;
size_t frequency; // `size_t` better to use that `int` for large arrays.
} value_freq;
value_freq findMax(const int *a, size_t length) {
value_freq vf;
if (length <= 1) {
if (length == 0) {
vf.value = INT_MIN; // Degenerate value if the array was size 0.
vf.frequency = 0;
} else {
vf.value = *a;
vf.frequency = 1;
}
} else {
size_t length1sthalf = length / 2;
vf = findMax(a, length1sthalf);
value_freq vf1 = findMax(&a[length1sthalf], length - length1sthalf);
if (vf1.value > vf.value)
return vf1;
if (vf.value == vf1.value)
vf.frequency += vf1.frequency;
}
return vf;
}
Your are not thaaaat far.
In order to save the frequency and the max you can keep a pointer to a structure, then just pass the pointer to the start of your array, the length you want to go through, and a pointer to this struct.
Keep in mind that you should use INT_MIN in limits.h as your initial max (see reset(maxfreq *) in the code below), as int can carry negative values.
The following code does the job recursively:
#include <limits.h>
typedef struct {
int max;
int freq;
} maxfreq;
void reset(maxfreq *mfreq){
mfreq->max = INT_MIN;
mfreq->freq = 0;
}
void findMax(int* a, int length, maxfreq *mfreq){
if(length>0){
if(*a == mfreq->max)
mfreq->freq++;
else if(*a > mfreq->max){
mfreq->freq = 1;
mfreq->max = *a;
}
findMax(a+1, length - 1, mfreq);
}
}
A call to findMax will recall itself as many times as the initial length plus one, each time incrementing the provided pointer and processing the corresponding element, so this is basically just going through all of the elements in a once, and no weird splitting.
this works fine with me :
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
// define a struct that contains the (max, freq) information
struct arrInfo
{
int max;
int count;
};
struct arrInfo maxArr(int * arr, int max, int size, int count)
{
int maxF;
struct arrInfo myArr;
if(size == 0) // to return from recursion we check the size left
{
myArr.max = max; // prepare the struct to output
myArr.count = count;
return(myArr);
}
if(*arr > max) // new maximum found
{
maxF = *arr; // update the max
count = 1; // initialize the frequency
}
else if (*arr == max) // same max encountered another time
{
maxF = max; // keep track of same max
count ++; // increase frequency
}
else // nothing changes
maxF = max; // keep track of max
arr++; // move the pointer to next element
size --; // decrease size by 1
return(maxArr(arr, maxF, size, count)); // recursion
}
int main()
{
struct arrInfo info; // return of the recursive function
// define an array
int arr[] = {8, 4, 8, 3, 7};
info = maxArr(arr, 0, 5, 1); // call with max=0 size=5 freq=1
printf("max = %d count = %d\n", info.max, info.count);
return 0;
}
when ran, it outputs :
max = 8 count = 3
Notice
In my code example I assumed the numbers to be positive (initializing max to 0), I don't know your requirements but you can elaborate.
The reqirements in your assignment are at least questionable. Just for reference, here is how this should be done in real code (to solve your assignment, refer to the other answers):
int findMax(int length, int* array, int* maxCount) {
int trash;
if(!maxCount) maxCount = &trash; //make sure we ignore it when a NULL pointer is passed in
*maxCount = 0;
int result = INT_MIN;
for(int i = 0; i < length; i++) {
if(array[i] > result) {
*maxCount = 1;
result = array[i];
} else if(array[i] == result) {
(*maxCount)++;
}
}
return result;
}
Always do things as straight forward as you can.
The code should take an array of coordinates from the user, then sort that array, putting the coordinates in order of their distance from the origin. I believe my problem lies in the sorting function (I have used a quicksort).
I am trying to write the function myself to get a better understanding of it, which is why I'm not using qsort().
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <math.h>
#define MAX_SIZE 64
typedef struct
{
double x, y;
}POINT;
double distance(POINT p1, POINT p2);
void sortpoints(double distances[MAX_SIZE], int firstindex, int lastindex, POINT data[MAX_SIZE]);
void printpoints(POINT data[], int n_points);
int main()
{
int n_points, i;
POINT data[MAX_SIZE], origin = { 0, 0 };
double distances[MAX_SIZE];
printf("How many values would you like to enter?\n");
scanf("%d", &n_points);
printf("enter your coordinates\n");
for (i = 0; i < n_points; i++)
{
scanf("%lf %lf", &data[i].x, &data[i].y);
distances[i] = distance(data[i], origin); //data and distances is linked by their index number in both arrays
}
sortpoints(distances, 0, i, data);
return 0;
}
double distance(POINT p1, POINT p2)
{
return sqrt(pow((p1.x - p2.x), 2) + pow((p1.y - p2.y), 2));
}
void printpoints(POINT *data, int n_points)
{
int i;
printf("Sorted points (according to distance from the origin):\n");
for (i = 0; i < n_points; i++)
{
printf("%.2lf %.2lf\n", data[i].x, data[i].y);
}
}
//quicksort
void sortpoints(double distances[MAX_SIZE], int firstindex, int lastindex, POINT data[MAX_SIZE])
{
int indexleft = firstindex;
int indexright = lastindex;
int indexpivot = (int)((lastindex + 1) / 2);
int n_points = lastindex + 1;
double left = distances[indexleft];
double right = distances[indexright];
double pivot = distances[indexpivot];
POINT temp;
if (firstindex < lastindex) //this will halt the recursion of the sorting function once all the arrays are 1-size
{
while (indexleft < indexpivot || indexright > indexpivot) //this will stop the sorting once both selectors reach the pivot position
{
//reset the values of left and right for the iterations of this loop
left = distances[indexleft];
right = distances[indexright];
while (left < pivot)
{
indexleft++;
left = distances[indexleft];
}
while (right > pivot)
{
indexright--;
right = distances[indexright];
}
distances[indexright] = left;
distances[indexleft] = right;
temp = data[indexleft];
data[indexleft] = data[indexright];
data[indexright] = temp;
}
//recursive sorting to sort the sublists
sortpoints(distances, firstindex, indexpivot - 1, data);
sortpoints(distances, indexpivot + 1, lastindex, data);
}
printpoints(data, n_points);
}
Thanks for your help, I have been trying to debug this for hours, even using a debugger.
Ouch! You call sortpoints() with i as argument. That argument, according to your prototype and code, should be the last index, and i is not the last index, but the last index + 1.
int indexleft = firstindex;
int indexright = lastindex; // indexright is pointing to a non-existent element.
int indexpivot = (int)((lastindex + 1) / 2);
int n_points = lastindex + 1;
double left = distances[indexleft];
double right = distances[indexright]; // now right is an undefined value, or segfault.
To fix that, call your sortpoints() function as:
sortpoints (0, n_points-1, data);
The problem is in your sortpoints function. The first while loop is looping infinitely. To test that is it an infinite loop or not place a printf statement
printf("Testing first while loop\n");
in your first while loop. You have to fix that.
There are quite a number of problems, but one of them is:
int indexpivot = (int)((lastindex + 1) / 2);
The cast is unnecessary, but that's trivia. Much more fundamental is that if you are sorting a segment from, say, 48..63, you will be pivoting on element 32, which is not in the range you are supposed to be working on. You need to use:
int indexpivot = (lastindex + firstindex) / 2;
or perhaps:
int indexpivot = (lastindex + firstindex + 1) / 2;
For the example range, these will pivot on element 55 or 56, which is at least within the range.
I strongly recommend:
Creating a print function similar to printpoints() but with the following differences:
Takes a 'tag' string to identify what it is printing.
Takes and prints the distance array too.
Takes the arrays and a pair of offsets.
Use this function inside the sort function before recursing.
Use this function inside the sort function before returning.
Use this function in the main function after you've read the data.
Use this function in the main function after the data is sorted.
Print key values — the pivot distance, the pivot index, at appropriate points.
This allows you to check that your partitioning is working correctly (it isn't at the moment).
Then, when you've got the code working, you can remove or disable (comment out) the printing code in the sort function.
The question is a little complex. The problem here is to get rid of duplicates and save the unique elements of array into another array with their original sequence.
For example :
If the input is entered b a c a d t
The result should be : b a c d t in the exact state that the input entered.
So, for sorting the array then checking couldn't work since I lost the original sequence. I was advised to use array of indices but I don't know how to do. So what is your advise to do that?
For those who are willing to answer the question I wanted to add some specific information.
char** finduni(char *words[100],int limit)
{
//
//Methods here
//
}
is the my function. The array whose duplicates should be removed and stored in a different array is words[100]. So, the process will be done on this. I firstly thought about getting all the elements of words into another array and sort that array but that doesn't work after some tests. Just a reminder for solvers :).
Well, here is a version for char types. Note it doesn't scale.
#include "stdio.h"
#include "string.h"
void removeDuplicates(unsigned char *string)
{
unsigned char allCharacters [256] = { 0 };
int lookAt;
int writeTo = 0;
for(lookAt = 0; lookAt < strlen(string); lookAt++)
{
if(allCharacters[ string[lookAt] ] == 0)
{
allCharacters[ string[lookAt] ] = 1; // mark it seen
string[writeTo++] = string[lookAt]; // copy it
}
}
string[writeTo] = '\0';
}
int main()
{
char word[] = "abbbcdefbbbghasdddaiouasdf";
removeDuplicates(word);
printf("Word is now [%s]\n", word);
return 0;
}
The following is the output:
Word is now [abcdefghsiou]
Is that something like what you want? You can modify the method if there are spaces between the letters, but if you use int, float, double or char * as the types, this method won't scale at all.
EDIT
I posted and then saw your clarification, where it's an array of char *. I'll update the method.
I hope this isn't too much code. I adapted this QuickSort algorithm and basically added index memory to it. The algorithm is O(n log n), as the 3 steps below are additive and that is the worst case complexity of 2 of them.
Sort the array of strings, but every swap should be reflected in the index array as well. After this stage, the i'th element of originalIndices holds the original index of the i'th element of the sorted array.
Remove duplicate elements in the sorted array by setting them to NULL, and setting the index value to elements, which is the highest any can be.
Sort the array of original indices, and make sure every swap is reflected in the array of strings. This gives us back the original array of strings, except the duplicates are at the end and they are all NULL.
For good measure, I return the new count of elements.
Code:
#include "stdio.h"
#include "string.h"
#include "stdlib.h"
void sortArrayAndSetCriteria(char **arr, int elements, int *originalIndices)
{
#define MAX_LEVELS 1000
char *piv;
int beg[MAX_LEVELS], end[MAX_LEVELS], i=0, L, R;
int idx, cidx;
for(idx = 0; idx < elements; idx++)
originalIndices[idx] = idx;
beg[0] = 0;
end[0] = elements;
while (i>=0)
{
L = beg[i];
R = end[i] - 1;
if (L<R)
{
piv = arr[L];
cidx = originalIndices[L];
if (i==MAX_LEVELS-1)
return;
while (L < R)
{
while (strcmp(arr[R], piv) >= 0 && L < R) R--;
if (L < R)
{
arr[L] = arr[R];
originalIndices[L++] = originalIndices[R];
}
while (strcmp(arr[L], piv) <= 0 && L < R) L++;
if (L < R)
{
arr[R] = arr[L];
originalIndices[R--] = originalIndices[L];
}
}
arr[L] = piv;
originalIndices[L] = cidx;
beg[i + 1] = L + 1;
end[i + 1] = end[i];
end[i++] = L;
}
else
{
i--;
}
}
}
int removeDuplicatesFromBoth(char **arr, int elements, int *originalIndices)
{
// now remove duplicates
int i = 1, newLimit = 1;
char *curr = arr[0];
while (i < elements)
{
if(strcmp(curr, arr[i]) == 0)
{
arr[i] = NULL; // free this if it was malloc'd
originalIndices[i] = elements; // place it at the end
}
else
{
curr = arr[i];
newLimit++;
}
i++;
}
return newLimit;
}
void sortArrayBasedOnCriteria(char **arr, int elements, int *originalIndices)
{
#define MAX_LEVELS 1000
int piv;
int beg[MAX_LEVELS], end[MAX_LEVELS], i=0, L, R;
int idx;
char *cidx;
beg[0] = 0;
end[0] = elements;
while (i>=0)
{
L = beg[i];
R = end[i] - 1;
if (L<R)
{
piv = originalIndices[L];
cidx = arr[L];
if (i==MAX_LEVELS-1)
return;
while (L < R)
{
while (originalIndices[R] >= piv && L < R) R--;
if (L < R)
{
arr[L] = arr[R];
originalIndices[L++] = originalIndices[R];
}
while (originalIndices[L] <= piv && L < R) L++;
if (L < R)
{
arr[R] = arr[L];
originalIndices[R--] = originalIndices[L];
}
}
arr[L] = cidx;
originalIndices[L] = piv;
beg[i + 1] = L + 1;
end[i + 1] = end[i];
end[i++] = L;
}
else
{
i--;
}
}
}
int removeDuplicateStrings(char *words[], int limit)
{
int *indices = (int *)malloc(limit * sizeof(int));
int newLimit;
sortArrayAndSetCriteria(words, limit, indices);
newLimit = removeDuplicatesFromBoth(words, limit, indices);
sortArrayBasedOnCriteria(words, limit, indices);
free(indices);
return newLimit;
}
int main()
{
char *words[] = { "abc", "def", "bad", "hello", "captain", "def", "abc", "goodbye" };
int newLimit = removeDuplicateStrings(words, 8);
int i = 0;
for(i = 0; i < newLimit; i++) printf(" Word # %d = %s\n", i, words[i]);
return 0;
}
Traverse through the items in the array - O(n) operation
For each item, add it to another sorted-array
Before adding it to the sorted array, check if the entry already exists - O(log n) operation
Finally, O(n log n) operation
i think that in C you can create a second array. then you copy the element from the original array only if this element is not already in the send array.
this also preserve the order of the element.
if you read the element one by one you can discard the element before insert in the original array, this could speedup the process.
As Thomas suggested in a comment, if each element of the array is guaranteed to be from a limited set of values (such as a char) you can achieve this in O(n) time.
Keep an array of 256 bool (or int if your compiler doesn't support bool) or however many different discrete values could possibly be in the array. Initialize all the values to false.
Scan the input array one-by-one.
For each element, if the corresponding value in the bool array is false, add it to the output array and set the bool array value to true. Otherwise, do nothing.
You know how to do it for char type, right?
You can do same thing with strings, but instead of using array of bools (which is technically an implementation of "set" object), you'll have to simulate the "set"(or array of bools) with a linear array of strings you already encountered. I.e. you have an array of strings you already saw, for each new string you check if it is in array of "seen" strings, if it is, then you ignore it (not unique), if it is not in array, you add it to both array of seen strings and output. If you have a small number of different strings (below 1000), you could ignore performance optimizations, and simply compare each new string with everything you already saw before.
With large number of strings (few thousands), however, you'll need to optimize things a bit:
1) Every time you add a new string to an array of strings you already saw, sort the array with insertion sort algorithm. Don't use quickSort, because insertion sort tends to be faster when data is almost sorted.
2) When checking if string is in array, use binary search.
If number of different strings is reasonable (i.e. you don't have billions of unique strings), this approach should be fast enough.