Test Prime Numbers - Peter's Program

[peterjaybee]

Hi,

I'm new to programming and have written the following code to test for prime-ness, but it doesn't seem to work except for n = 3.

I think it may have something to do with my goto statement. Can anyone see a way of avoiding this or any other errors with the program?

#include <iostream>
#include<math.h>

using namespace std;

int main() {
	int n, i, is_prime;
	
	//Assume # is prime until proven otherwise
	
	is_prime = true;
	loop:
	
	// get number
	
	cout << "Enter a number and press ENTER (0 to exit): ";
	cin >> n;
	
	if (n == 0) {
		
		return 0;
		
	}
	
	else {
	
		//test for prime-ness.
		
		i=2;
		
		while (i <= sqrt(static_cast<double>(n))) {
			
			if (n%i == 0)
			
				cout << i << " is a factor of " << n << endl;
				is_prime = false;
			
			i++;
		}
		
		if (is_prime)
			cout << "Number is Prime!" << endl;
			
		else 
			cout << "Number is not prime!" << endl;
			
	}
	
	goto loop;
}

Kind regards,

Peter

 

[mgb_phys]

Always use { } with if statements - then hunt down the lecturer/textbook writer that misses them out for single line if statements.

Then as a bonus appreciate the Python indentation rules

 

[peterjaybee]

What are the python indentation rules

 

[mgb_phys]

When you do
if ()
... this line
... another line

Which line does the if() statement apply to in c/c++?
In python, it's the indentation that controls the blocks, in c/c++ the indentation means nothing.

 

[davee123]

Well, it's not a terribly efficient way to check for being prime, but it looks like it should work (except for any number less than 2, which it will think is a prime number). A quick scan makes me think that one of your problems is that you set is_prime to true OUTSIDE of your loop. So it'll work the first time you run it, and will continue to work until you give it a non-prime number, in which case it will continually return false, no matter what.

But as mgb_phys points out, your bigger issue is that you should ALWAYS use { } around your code blocks, unless you've gained a knack for programming. As it stands, "is_prime = false" is performed EVERY time you're in your while loop, not just when n % i == 0. Hence, it works with 2 or 3, because it immediately falls out of the while loop (i = 2, and sqrt(3) and sqrt(2) are less than 2).

DaveE