Introduction to Programming (CS 101)
Spring 2024
Lecture 12:
- Recursion HW, Introduction to arrays, Midsem recap
Instructor: Preethi Jyothi
- Based on material developed by Prof. Abhiram Ranade
Common C++ Errors
CS 101, 2025
Some common C++ errors (based on concepts studied so far)
• Using = (assignment) instead of == (equal to)
• Not enclosing a multiple-statement body within parenthesis { }
• Variable scope issues
• Dangling else
• Integer division when oats/doubles are required
• Operator precedence; use parentheses whenever precedence is unclear
• Lossy type casting. E.g., int i = 32; bool b = i;
• Loop limits being off by one (e.g., using 'i = 0; i <= n' instead of 'i = 0; i < n'
for n iterations)
• Division by zero
• Sequentially address compiler errors; errors could compound
fl
Recursion problems
CS 101, 2025
Homework Exercises
Write a recursive function to print out all
Write a recursive program to draw the
permutations of a string. Assume the
following fractal with repeating equilateral
string is a single word. If there are
triangles
duplicates, you can print them all out.
If the input is "out", your code prints:
out
otu
uot
uto
tou
tuo
Fractal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierpi%C5%84ski_triangle
Unpacking the
fractal triangle
Unpacking the if (level == 1) {
fractal triangle for(int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
forward(side/2); left(120);
}
penUp(); forward(side/2); penDown();
for(int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
forward(side/2); left(120);
}
penUp(); left(120); forward(side/2);
void dtriangle(double side, int level) { right(120); penDown();
for(int i = 0; i < 3; i++) { for(int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
forward(side); left(120); forward(side/2); left(120);
} }
if(level == 0) return; penUp(); right(120); forward(side/2);
⋮ left(120); penDown();
}
}
Unpacking the if (level == 1) {
fractal triangle
dtriangle(side/2, 0);
penUp(); forward(side/2); penDown();
dtriangle(side/2, 0);
penUp(); left(120); forward(side/2);
void dtriangle(double side, int level) { right(120); penDown();
for(int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
forward(side); left(120); dtriangle(side/2, 0);
}
if(level == 0) return; penUp(); right(120); forward(side/2);
⋮ left(120); penDown();
}
}
Unpacking the if (level == 1) {
void dtriangle(double side, int level) {
fractal triangle for(int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
dtriangle(side/2, 0);
forward(side); left(120);
}
penUp(); forward(side/2); penDown();
if(level == 0) return;
dtriangle(side/2, level-1);
dtriangle(side/2, 0);
penUp(); forward(side/2); penDown();
penUp(); left(120); forward(side/2);
dtriangle(side/2, level-1);
right(120); penDown();
penUp(); left(120); forward(side/2);
right(120); penDown();
dtriangle(side/2, 0);
dtriangle(side/2, level-1);
penUp(); right(120); forward(side/2);
penUp(); right(120); forward(side/2);
left(120); penDown();
left(120); penDown();
}
}
}
Print all permutations of a string using a recursive function
void permute(string& str, int l, int r) {
if(l == r)
cout << str << endl; //Base case
else {
for(int i = l; i <=r; i++) {
swap(str[l], str[i]);
permute(str, l+1, r);
swap(str[l], str[i]);
}
}
}
Introduction to Arrays
CS 101, 2025
Example1: Counting vowels
• We want to read a word (in lowercase) as input and maintain counts of each vowel
int main() { What if we
int Na=0, Ne=0, Ni=0, No=0, Nu=0; char c; want to count the
for(cin >> c; c >= 'a' && c <= 'z'; cin >> c) { occurrences of every
if (c == 'a') ++Na; letter in the
else if (c == 'e') ++Ne; alphabet?
else if (c == 'i') ++Ni;
else if (c == 'o') ++No;
26 counters! 😱
else if (c == 'u') ++Nu;
}
cout << "#a = " << Na << ", #e = " << Ne << ", #i = " << Ni
<< ", #o = " << No << ", #u = " << Nu << endl;
}
Example2: Sorting
• Read 3 numbers as input and print them in ascending order
int main() {
int a1, a2, a3;
cin >> a1 >> a2 >> a3;
What if we want to
if (a1 <= a2 && a2 <= a3)
sort n numbers?
cout << a1 << ", " << a2 << ", " << a3 << endl;
else if (a1 <= a3 && a3 <= a2)
cout << a1 << ", " << a3 << ", " << a2 << endl;
else if (a2 <= a3 && a3 <= a1)
cout << a2 << ", " << a3 << ", " << a1 << endl; Will need n! checks 😱
else if (a2 <= a1 && a1 <= a3)
cout << a2 << ", " << a1 << ", " << a3 << endl;
else if (a3 <= a1 && a1 <= a2)
cout << a3 << ", " << a1 << ", " << a2 << endl;
else if (a3 <= a2 && a2 <= a1)
cout << a3 << ", " << a2 << ", " << a1 << endl;
}
Arrays
• Arrays let us declare and use a large number of variables (of the same type)
• Syntax:
data-type array-name [ number ] ;
• Example: int N[26];
• Each variable in the array is referred to using an index: e.g., N[i]
• The rst element is N[0] and the last element is N[number - 1]
fi
Counting letters of the alphabet using an array
int N[26];
for(int i = 0; i < 26; i++)
N[i] = 0;
char c;
for(cin >> c; c >= 'a' && c <= 'z'; cin >> c)
N[c-'a']++;
for(char c = 'a'; c <= 'z'; c++)
cout << "#" << c << " = " << N[c-'a'] << endl;
Accessing array elements
• Setting values during initialization:
• Explicitly: int N[3] = {-1, 0, 1};
• Can initialize a few elements, and have the rest all set to 0
• int N[26] = {1}; // N[0] = 1, N[i] = 0 for all i from 1 to 25
• int N[26] = { }; // all values are set to 0
• At any point (not just initially), we can assign values one by one. E.g., N[i] = i;
• Cannot assign to an array variable itself
• int N[26];
• N = N; //error: array type is not assignable
Counting vowels
• To read in a word (lower case) and count the vowel occurrences
int main() {
char c, vowels[] = {'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u'};
int N[5] = {};
for(cin >> c; c >= 'a' && c <= 'z'; cin >> c)
for (int i=0; i<5; i++)
if(c == vowels[i]) {
N[i]++; break;
}
for (int i=0; i<5; i++)
cout << "#" << vowels[i] << " = " << N[i] << (i==4?"":", ");
cout << endl;
}
Array bounds
• It is the programmer's responsibility (rather than the compiler's) to ensure that when accessing
an array, the index remains within bounds (i.e., 0 ≤ index ≤ number of elements -1)
• E.g., the compiler will not complain/warn about this:
• int X[10], n; cin >> n; X[n] = 1;
• Instead include a bound-check: if (n>=0 && n<10) X[n]=1; else …
• Or enforce index bounds in the program logic (e.g., X[abs(n)%10] )
• If the array index is out of bounds, it can cause the program to behave in unspeci ed ways
(possibly crash, or access other variables). (Remember the Crowdstrike bug?)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_CrowdStrike-related_IT_outages
fi
Palindrome check using arrays
• Read an n-letter word and check if it is a palindrome
int main() {
const int Nmax = 100; //array size has to be known at compile time
char text[Nmax];
int n; cin >> n;
if(n > Nmax) { cout << "Too long\n"; return -1; }
for (int i=0; i<n; i++) cin >> text[i];
for (int i=0; i<n/2; i++) {
if (text[i] != text[n-1-i]) {
cout << "Not a palindrome!\n"; return 1;
}
}
cout << "Palindrome!\n";
}
Midsem Recap
CS 101, 2025
Midsem Recap (IA)
Match (A) with one of (i), (ii), (iii) which is equivalent
(A) if(a > 10 && b > 10) f();
(B) if(a > 10 || b > 10) f(); i i
(i) if (a > 10) f(); else if (b > 10) f(); ii
ii
(ii) if (a > 10) f(); if (b > 10) f();
(iii) if (a > 10) if (b > 10) f(); iii iii
Midsem Recap (IB)
Match (B) with one of (i), (ii), (iii) which is equivalent
(A) if(a > 10 && b > 10) f();
(B) if(a > 10 || b > 10) f(); i i
(i) if (a > 10) f(); else if (b > 10) f(); ii
ii
(ii) if (a > 10) f(); if (b > 10) f();
(iii) if (a > 10) if (b > 10) f(); iii iii
Midsem Recap (IIA)
Say we want to set the jth least signi cant bit of a number to 0. For example, if the binary
representation of a short int num is 0000000000101101 and j=3, num should become
0000000000101001
We want to do this in a single statement using bitwise operators. Does the following expression
achieve the desired outcome? Explain why or why not.
num ^= (num & (1 << (j-1)));
A Yes B No
fi
Midsem Recap (IIB)
Say we want to set the jth least signi cant bit of a number to 0. For example, if the binary
representation of a short int num is 0000000000101101 and j=3, num should become
0000000000101001
We want to do this in a single statement using bitwise operators. Does the following expression
achieve the desired outcome? Explain why or why not.
num &= ~(1 << (j-1));
A Yes B No
fi
Midsem Recap (IIC)
Say we want to set the jth least signi cant bit of a number to 0. For example, if the binary
representation of a short int num is 0000000000101101 and j=3, num should become
0000000000101001
We want to do this in a single statement using bitwise operators. Does the following expression
achieve the desired outcome? Explain why or why not.
num |= (1 << (j-1));
A Yes B No
fi
Midsem Recap (III)
What is the output?
false
bool istrue() { A
false
cout << "true\n";
return true; false
B false
}
true
bool isfalse() {
cout << "false\n"; C false
return false;
} false
D
true
int main() {
if(isfalse() || !!(true && !isfalse()))
cout << "true\n";
}
Midsem Recap (IV)
What do each of the following statements output?
char c1 = 'A', c2 = '6'; //ASCII codes of '6','A','a': 54,65,97
char c = c1 + c2 - '0'; cout << c; G output
char c = c1 + c2; cout << c; w output
char c = c1 + int(c2); cout << c; w output
char c = c1 + (1<<1) + (1<<2); cout << c; G output
char c = c1 + 0xF-9; cout << c; G output
Midsem Recap (V)
Fill in the blank below to nd the largest digit in a given non-negative number. Note max(x, y)
returns the maximum of integers x and y.
int findLargestDigit(int n) {
int md = 0;
while(n > 0) {
md = ;
n /= 10;
}
return md;
}
int main() {
int n;
cin >> n;
cout << findLargestDigit(n) << endl;
}
fi
Midsem Recap (V)
Fill in the blank below to nd the largest digit in a given non-negative number. Note max(x, y)
returns the maximum of integers x and y.
int findLargestDigit(int n) {
int md = 0;
while(n > 0) {
md = max(md, n%10);
n /= 10;
}
return md;
}
int main() {
int n;
cin >> n;
cout << findLargestDigit(n) << endl;
}
fi
