How to call a function within a function? - c++

Question

I am trying to determine if my code is a palindrome so I created a reverse function and then a palindrome function. I am trying to assign the reversed Character array into the new function but I can't seem to get it to compile.... any tips?
Here is my palindrome function
bool Palindrome(char Characters[], unsigned long length)
{
char tempstring[62];
tempstring[62] == reverse(Characters);
for(int i=0; i <= length; i++){
if(Characters[i] == tempstring[i])
return false;
else
return true;
}
}
Here is my reverse function
void reverse(char Characters[], unsigned long length)
{
char temp;
for(int i=0; i<length/2; i++){
temp = Characters[i];
Characters[i]=Characters[length-i-1];
Characters[length-i-1]=temp;
}
}

Answer 1

First things first, you have a typo; == is a compare equality, =. You ought to have written
tempstring[62] = reverse(Characters);
But this will still not work. For starters, reverse is a void function and so therefore it does not return a value.
The quickest fix will be to replace that line with
reverse(Characters, length);
(Note that I'm also passing the length parameter as required).
One final thing: if you have organised your file so that reverse appears after Palindrome, then you need to forward declare reverse using this statement:
void reverse(char Characters[], unsigned long length);
That fixes the compilation errors. I defer to you to check the runtime behaviour.

Answer 2

You are making this quite complicated.
Just find the end of the string (strlen). Read from both ends a character at a time and if they do not match then it is not a palindrome. If the indexes become the same or they cross then you are done. It is indeed a palindrome.
I.e
bool Palindrome(char *s) {
int left = 0, right = strlen(s) - 1;
while (left < right) {
if (s[left] != s[right] return false;
++left;
--right;
}
return true;
}
EDIT
Similar vain to construct the reverse
char *Reverse(char *s)
{
char *rev = new char[strlen(s) + 1];
int left = 0, right = strlen(s) - 1;
while (right > -1) {
rev[left] = s[right];
right--;
left++;
}
rev[left] = 0;
// Remember to use delete[]
return rev;
}
EDIT 2
Or
void Reverse(char[] s, int len) {
int left = 0; right = len;
while (right > -1) {
char t = s[left];
s[left] = s[right];
s[right] = t;
left++; right--;
}
}
Then make a copy of the string, reverse it and compare it.

Answer 3

Your error is the line tempstring[62] == reverse(Characters);. You don't need the double = sign. In the future, it would be helpful to post the error messages you get when compiling.
bool Palindrome(char Characters[], unsigned long length)
{
char tempstring[62];
tempstring[62] = reverse(Characters);
for(int i=0; i <= length; i++){
if(Characters[i] == tempstring[i])
return false;
else
return true;
}
}

Answer 4

Your error is here:
tempstring[62] == reverse(Characters);
You've wrote == means, a condition that returns true or false (for example: if (5 == 7) -> false)
But what you've actually wanted to do was tempstring[62] = reverse(Characters);
One = means equal (int a = 3)
Two == means to check a condition (for example if (a == b) (and thats why you dont write in ifs: if(a = 3) because it will assign a = 3 and allways get inside the if

Answer 5

First of all, your reverse function returns nothing, so attempting to assign its return value to anything is not going to work:
tempstring[62] == reverse(Characters); // won't work as it is attempting to compare a void
tempstring[62] = reverse(Characters); // won't work as it is attempting to assign a void
From a more fundamental level, testing for a palindrome is much less complex than you are making it:
bool Palindrome(char Characters[], unsigned long length)
{
bool result = true;
for(int i=0; i < length / 2; i++)
{
if (Characters[i] != Characters[length - i - 1])
{
result = false;
break;
}
}
return result;
}