error when testing program (for loop with nested if statement))

[leoshiner]

Hi I'm trying to write a program that will request a number of candidates names and number of votes they've got and at the end output the candidate with the highest number of votes,when I've run this program it is giving me the correct output if the first candidate or the second candidate has the highest number of votes but not if the third (ie last candidate,no matter how many candidates are entered) has,would appreciate any help with this it's probably just something small

package electioncandidates;

import javax.swing.JOptionPane;


public class ElectionCandidates {

   
    public static void main(String[] args) {

        String strInput,
               topCand = null,strInput2,strTemp;

        int vote=0,topVote=0,temp=0;
        
        strInput = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("What is candidates name");
        strInput2=JOptionPane.showInputDialog("What is candidates mark?");
        vote=Integer.parseInt(strInput2);



        for(int i=1;i<3;i++){

            
                

        if(vote>topVote)
        {
            temp = vote;
            vote=topVote;
            topVote=temp;
            strTemp=strInput;
            strInput=topCand;
            topCand=strTemp;}
         
                strInput = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("What is candidates name");
        strInput2=JOptionPane.showInputDialog("What is candidates mark?");
        vote=Integer.parseInt(strInput2);}

            
        


        JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null,"The top candidate is "+topCand+" with "+topVote+"votes");



        



    }

}

[JosAH]

[code] if(vote>topVote)
{
temp = vote;
vote=topVote;
topVote=temp;
strTemp=strInput;
strInput=topCand;
topCand=strTemp;}

Why all that juggling? If you want the variable 'topVote' to keep track of the highest vote so far and you also want to keep track of the topCand(idate), simply do this:

if (vote > topVote) {
   topVote= vote;
   topCand= strInput;
}

kind regards,

Jos

[leoshiner]

Why all that juggling? If you want the variable 'topVote' to keep track of the highest vote so far and you also want to keep track of the topCand(idate), simply do this:

if (vote > topVote) {
   topVote= vote;
   topCand= strInput;
}

kind regards,

Jos

thanks that's after cleaning up that part of the code but I am still having the same problem whereby if the last candidate entered has the maximum votes it outputs the next highest candidate,is there a way around this or will I have to use another kind of loop altogether

[JosAH]

thanks that's after cleaning up that part of the code but I am still having the same problem whereby if the last candidate entered has the maximum votes it outputs the next highest candidate,is there a way around this or will I have to use another kind of loop altogether

Nope, a single loop with a single if statement should be fine. Show us the code you cleaned up please.

kind regards,

Jos

[leoshiner]

Nope, a single loop with a single if statement should be fine. Show us the code you cleaned up please.

kind regards,

Jos

here it is

/*
 * To change this template, choose Tools | Templates
 * and open the template in the editor.
 */
package electioncandidates;

import javax.swing.JOptionPane;

/**
 *
 * @author Leon
 */
public class ElectionCandidates {

    /**
     * @param args the command line arguments
     */
    public static void main(String[] args) {

        String strInput,
                topCand = null, strInput2, strTemp;

        int vote = 0, topVote = 0, temp = 0;

        strInput = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("What is candidates name");
        strInput2 = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("What is candidates mark?");
        vote = Integer.parseInt(strInput2);





        for (int i = 1; i < 3; i++) {





            if (vote > topVote) {

                {
                    topVote = vote;
                    topCand = strInput;
                }

                strInput = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("What is candidates name");
                strInput2 = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("What is candidates mark?");
                vote = Integer.parseInt(strInput2);
            }
        }






        JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "The top candidate is " + topCand + " with " + topVote + " votes");



        



    
    }
    }

[JosAH]

Your logic is still convoluted (and incorrect); have a look at this pseudo code:

int vote, topVote= -1;
String cand, topCand= "";
while more candidates to read {
   read cand and vote;
   if (vote > topVote) {
      topVote= vote;
      topCand= cand;
   }
}
print topCand and topVote;

Note that variable topVote was set to -1 before the loop just to make sure that it is lower than any vote read.

kind regards,

Jos

[dlorde]

The problem with the last vote is that it gets input at the end of the loop and so it never gets processed because the loop finishes. As JosAH shows in pseudocode, you need to input the vote at the top of the loop so it will always get processed.

[leoshiner]

thanks guys have it working now