The discussion revolves around a homework assignment requiring the creation of a C++ program to calculate GPA based on letter grades (A, B, C, D, F) and corresponding credit hours. Participants explore various coding approaches, variable naming conventions, and logic for handling user input.
Participants express differing views on the necessity of multiple variables versus using arrays, and there is no consensus on the best approach to handle input validation for letter grades. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the optimal structure and readability of the code.
Limitations include potential confusion over variable naming conventions, the handling of invalid inputs, and the clarity of the original code structure. Some participants suggest improvements without reaching a definitive solution.
Why are there three variables? Also, the variable name should be suggestive of what it will be used for. Instead of x, y, or z, I would use one variable: letterGrade, of type char.Jesse H. said:So if I'm designated the input as a variable I.e
cin >>x>>y>>z;
No, but you have to have logic that checks the value of the input variable to see if it is 'A', 'B', 'C', 'D', or 'F'.Jesse H. said:Then I would have to define A B C D or F for every input?
Jesse H. said:So I would do
if (input=='A')
x=4; etc.. for every letter grade and every variable, x, y, z?
if (letterGrade == 'A')
{
numberGrade = 4;
}
else if (letterGrade == 'B')
{
numberGrade = 3;
}
// and so onWhy do you think you need 10 variables? All you need are two - one for the input letter grade and one for the output number grade.Jesse H. said:Thanks I got out figured out a little bit ago, I was just choosing x, y, z as an example my actual variables were c1-c5 and g1-g5.
Jesse H. said:Sorry, I wasn't clear, the assignment called for the program to calculate GPA based on 5 inputs. And in my code I made comments that told the grader what I was doing and what the variables stood for.
Here is my code, its already been submitted but when asking for help in writing it the TA did pick a little at my "structure" but wasn't clear on what exactly I could improve on. Is there any tips you could suggest about cleaning up the code making it easier to read?
Code:#include <iostream> using namespace std; int main () { //Defining variables that will be used during code. Where c stands for credit hours and g stands for the corresponding grade float c1, c2, c3, c4, c5; char g1, g2, g3, g4, g5; //Asking for input from user cout <<"Please enter the number of credit hours for each class followed by the grade obtained in each class:"; // Input is in the following form: 3 4 3 4 3 A C B A B. cin >> oc1>> c2>> c3>> c4>> c5>> g1>> g2>> g3>> g4>> g5; //Defining the the grade inputs A, B, C, D, and F in terms of a numerical value. if (g1 == 'A') g1=4; if (g1 == 'B') g1=3; if (g1 == 'C') g1=2; if (g1 == 'D') g1=1; if (g1 == 'F') g1=0; if (g2 == 'A') g2=4; if (g2 == 'B') g2=3; if (g2 == 'C') g2=2; if (g2 == 'D') g2=1; if (g2 == 'F') g2=0; if (g3 == 'A') g3=4; if (g3 == 'B') g3=3; if (g3 == 'C') g3=2; if (g3 == 'D') g3=1; if (g3 == 'F') g3=0; if (g4 == 'A') g4=4; if (g4 == 'B') g4=3; if (g4 == 'C') g4=2; if (g4 == 'D') g4=1; if (g4 == 'F') g4=0; if (g5 == 'A') g5=4; if (g5 == 'B') g5=3; if (g5 == 'C') g5=2; if (g5 == 'D') g5=1; if (g5 == 'F') g5=0; //Calculating and printing the final GPA. cout << "Your GPA is:"<< ((c1 * g1)+(c2 * g2)+(c3 * g3)+(c4 * g4)+(c5 * g5))/(c1+c2+c3+c4+c5)<<"\n"; return 0; }
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
const int NUMCLASSES = 5;
int main ()
{
float creditHours[NUMCLASSES];
char letterGrades[NUMCLASSES];
float numberGrades[NUMCLASSES];
float totalCredits = 0.0;
float GPA = 0.0;
// Ask for input from user
cout <<"Enter the number of credit hours for each class followed by the grade obtained in each class:";
// Input is in the following form: <credits> <grade> <credits> <grade> ...
for (int j = 0; j < NUMCLASSES; j++)
{
cin << creditHours[j];
cin << letterGrades[j];
}
// Convert letter grades A, B, C, D, and F to numerical values.
for (int j = 0; j < NUMCLASSES; j++)
{
if (letterGrades[j] == 'A' || letterGrades[j] == 'a' )
{
numberGrades[j] = 4.0;
}
else if (letterGrades[j] == 'B' || letterGrades[j] == 'b' )
{
numberGrades[j] = 3.0;
}
else if (letterGrades[j] == 'C' || letterGrades[j] == 'c' )
{
numberGrades[j] = 2.0;
}
else if (letterGrades[j] == 'D' || letterGrades[j] == 'd' )
{
numberGrades[j] = 1.0;
}
else
{
numberGrades[j] = 0.0;
}
} // Calculate the final GPA.
for (j = 0; j < NUMCLASSES; j++)
{
totalCredits += creditHours[j];
GPA += creditHours[j] * numberGrades[j];
}
GPA = GPA / totalCredits;
// Display the GPA.
cout << "Your GPA is:"<< GPA <<"\n";
return 0;
}but you could use math to convert a character grade 'A' through 'F' to an integer value 4 through 0, using the example I showed above, which would reduce the number of if statements.Jesse H. said:Yeah we have not learned about loops and arrays, we are actually specifically told we can't use them in that assignment, and actually the next assignment calls for us to improve upon our code using loops and more conditional statements but once again, no arrays.