Creating an array - c++

Question

write a program that let's the user enter 10 numbers into an array. The program should then display the largest number as and the smallest number stored in the array.
I am very confused on this question that was on a previous exam and will be on the final. Any help would be appreciated! This is what I had on the test and got 3/15 points, and the code was almost completely wrong but I can post what I had if necessary, thanks! For creating the array, i can at least get that started, so like this?
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
int array(10); // the array with 10 numbers, which the user will enter
cout << "Please enter 10 numbers which will be stored in this array" << endl;
cin >> array;
int smallest=0; //accounting for int data type and the actual smallest number
int largest=0; //accounting for int data type and the actual largest number
//-both of these starting at 0 to show accurate results-
And then on my test, i started using for loops and it got messy from there on out, so my big problem here i think is how to actually compare/find the smallest and largest numbers, in the best way possible. I'm also just in computer science 1 at university so we keep it pretty simple, or i like to. We also know binary search and one other search method, if either of those would be a good way to use here to write code for doing this. Thanks!

Answer 1

Start by declaring an array correctly. int array(10) initializes a single integer variable named array to have the value 10. (Same as saying int array = 10)
You declare an array of 10 integers as follows:
int array[10];
Anyway, two simple loops and you are done.
int array[10];
cout << "Enter 10 numbers" << endl;
for (int x = 0; x < 10; x++)
{
cin >> array[x];
}
int smallest=array[0];
int largest=array[0];
for (int x = 1; x < 10; x++)
{
if (array[x] < smallest)
{
smallest = array[x];
}
else if (array[x] > largest)
{
largest = array[x];
}
}
cout << "Largest: " << largest << endl;
cout << "Smallest: " << smallest << endl;
You can actually combine the two for loops above into a single loop. That's an exercise in an optimization that I'll leave up to you.

Answer 2

In this case, you don't actually have to do a binary search, or search the array. Since you will be receiving the input directly from the user, you can keep track of minimum and maximum as you encounter them, as show below. You know the first number you receive will be both the min and max. Then you compare the next number you get with those ones. If it's bigger or smaller, you store it as the max or min respectively. And then so on. I included code to store the number in an array, to check errors and to output the array back to the user, but that's probably not necessary on an exam due to the limited time. I included it as a little bit of extra info for you.
#include <cctype> // required for isdigit, error checking
#include <cstdlib> // required for atoi, convert text to an int
#include <iostream> // required for cout, cin, user input and output
#include <string> // required for string type, easier manipulation of text
int main()
{
// The number of numbers we need from the user.
int maxNumbers = 10;
// A variable to store the user's input before we can check for errors
std::string userInput;
// An array to store the user's input
int userNumbers[maxNumbers];
// store the largest and smallest number
int max, min;
// Counter variables, i is used for the two main loops in the program,
// while j is used in a loop for error checking
int i;
unsigned int j;
// Prompt the user for input.
std::cout << "Please enter " << maxNumbers << " numbers: " << std::endl;
// i is used to keep track of the number of valid numbers inputted
i = 0;
// Keep waiting for user input until the user enters the maxNumber valid
// numbers
while (i < maxNumbers)
{
// Get the user's next number, store it as string so we can check
// for errors
std::cout << "Number " << (i+1) << ": ";
std::cin >> userInput;
// This variable is used to keep track of whether or not there is
// an error in the user's input.
bool validInput = true;
// Loop through the entire inputted string and check they are all
// valid digits
for (j = 0; j < userInput.length(); j++)
{
// Check if the character at pos j in the input is a digit.
if (!isdigit(userInput.at(j)))
{
// This is not a digit, we found an error so we can stop looping
validInput = false;
break;
}
}
// If it is a valid number, store it in the array of
// numbers inputted by the user.
if (validInput)
{
// We store this number in the array, and increment the number
// of valid numbers we got.
userNumbers[i] = atoi(userInput.c_str());
// If this is the first valid input we got, then we have nothing
// to compare to yet, so store the input as the max and min
if (i == 0)
{
min = userNumbers[i];
max = userNumbers[i];
}
else {
// Is this the smallest int we have seen?
if (min < userNumbers[i])
{
min = userNumbers[i];
}
// Is this the largest int we have seen?
if (max < userNumbers[i])
{
max = userNumbers[i];
}
}
i++;
}
else
{
// This is not a valid number, inform the user of their error.
std::cout << "Invalid number, please enter a valid number." << std::endl;
}
}
// Output the user's numbers to them.
std::cout << "Your numbers are: " << userNumbers[0];
for (i = 1; i < maxNumbers; i++)
{
std::cout << "," << userNumbers[i];
}
std::cout << "." << std::endl;
// Output the min and max
std::cout << "Smallest int: " << min << std::endl;
std::cout << "Largest int: " << max << std::endl;
return 0;
}