Sentinel value in a while loop

[Mike Miller]

Hi all,

I'm trying to come up with a program that uses a sentinel value (in my case, it's zero) to stop a while loop that adds up integers. This is what the program is supposed to do:

1. Prompt the user to input for a number (not necessarily a positive one)
2. Get the user's input
3. If the user's input is zero, the program quits. Otherwise, keep collecting values and add as we go along

Here's what I did so far:

//Using While Loops with sentinel values to stop loops

import java.util.Scanner; 

public class addIntegers
{
	public static final int SENTINEL = 0;
	
	public static void main(String[] args)
	{
		// Variable declaration
		int number;
		int sum = 0;
		
		Scanner keyboard = new Scanner(System.in); 
		
		System.out.print("Enter a number to add (Press " + SENTINEL + " to end): ");
		number = keyboard.nextInt();
		
		while (number != SENTINEL)
		{
			sum = sum + number;
			System.out.print("Enter a number to add (Press " + SENTINEL + " to end): ");
			number = keyboard.nextInt();
		}
		
		System.out.print("\nThe sum of numbers entered before zero is " + sum + ".");
	}
}

The above code has redundant code - it asks the user to input a number and grabs it in the while loop as well as above it (which was used to initialize the loop).

I want to get rid of the redundant code. Here's my pseudo-code to what I *think* is the solution.

import java.util.Scanner; 

public class addIntegers
{	
	public static void main(String[] args)
        {
		// Variable declaration
		int number;
		int sum = 0;
		
		Scanner keyboard = new Scanner(System.in);

            // Pseudo-code begins
              while (some condition is true)
              {
	              Ask user for number & inform user to press 0 to quit
	              Get the number

	              if (number is equal to zero)
		          {
		               print the sum of numbers entered before zero
		          }
	
		          Add the number into the value of sum, which is initially zero
              } // Repeat loop until zero is entered
        }
}

I am not sure what condition to come up with for the while loop. I got rid of the constant since I don't think that's necessary anymore. I have to make the while loop condition true in order to initiate the loop, and not have to use zero initially for the value of "number".

How can I tackle this issue? I am in a beginning Java class, and we haven't hit switches yet.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

[pbrockway2]

I am not sure what condition to come up with for the while loop.

The condition is easy! It's moreWanted or isNotFinished or some such thing.

(1) Declare it before the while loop. And initialise it (to what?)
(2) Make it false inside the while loop at the appropriate place (which is where? ie what makes it false?)

[Mike Miller]

The condition is easy! It's moreWanted or isNotFinished or some such thing.

(1) Declare it before the while loop. And initialise it (to what?)
(2) Make it false inside the while loop at the appropriate place (which is where? ie what makes it false?)

So, I could declare a "double" variable, assign it a value of say, 2.3, and pop it in the while loop. That sounds like it will work.

That brings up my next question. Doesn't the while loop condition have to be related to the code within the while loop? In other words, what I just said above has absolutely nothing to do with the purpose of the program. Should that matter? I'm just curious.

Thanks for the reply. It sure got me thinking about this.

[pbrockway2]

Why a double variable? Your pseudo code showed a variable "some condition" which presumably should be boolean as the loop executes as long as it has the value true.

Yes, this variable is related to the contents of the while loop. As I said before it will be set to false inside the loop when you detect that no more looping is needed.

[Mike Miller]

Why a double variable? Your pseudo code showed a variable "some condition" which presumably should be boolean as the loop executes as long as it has the value true.

Yes, this variable is related to the contents of the while loop. As I said before it will be set to false inside the loop when you detect that no more looping is needed.

Well, the only thing I can think of doing at this point would be this:

public static void main(String[] args)
	{
		// Variable declaration
		int number = 0; 
		int sum = 0;
		
		Scanner keyboard = new Scanner(System.in);
		
		while (number != 0)
		{ 
			System.out.print("Enter a number to add (Press 0 to quit): ");
			number = keyboard.nextInt();
			
			if (number == 0)
			{
				System.out.print("\nThe sum of numbers entered before zero is " + sum + ".");
			}
			
			sum = sum + number; // Get sum
		}
	}

Clearly the above code won't work. My while loop executes if number is not equal to zero, which requires me to give the number variable a value of zero (in order for the program to perform the addition correctly). It would hit the "if" statement within the while loop if number is given a value of zero. This is why I added a double variable as the Scanner accepts only integers, and more importantly because the double variable doesn't have anything to do directly with the program (it's just a dummy variable to execute the while loop).

Anyway, it does work with the double variable. I'm not going to use it, but let's assume for a moment that I am. The loop continues to run after I enter zero. Is there a way to stop that? I've seen the use of break statements in such situations, although using those hasn't been recommended without prior use of switch statements.

Thanks again.

[JosAH]

Use a for loop; it is/was normal idiom in C/C++ to do this:

for (sum= 0; (number= keyboard.nextInt()) != 0; sum+= number); // empty body

kind regards,

Jos

[Mike Miller]

Use a for loop; it is/was normal idiom in C/C++ to do this:

for (sum= 0; (number= keyboard.nextInt()) != 0; sum+= number); // empty body

kind regards,

Jos

We haven't started using for loops either. We're required to use while loops for this program.

Thanks for your reply.

[pbrockway2]

For future reference Jos' suggeston of using a for loop is good because the stopping condition is given "up front" at the start of the loop.

As for using a while loop, you could try what I suggested: while(moreInput) {...

Declare the variable as boolean before the loop
Initialize it appropriately
Within the loop assign it false at the appropriate place

[pbrockway2]

For future reference Jos' suggeston of using a for loop is good because the stopping condition is given "up front" at the start of the loop.

As for using a while loop, you could try what I suggested: while(moreInput) {...

Declare the variable as boolean before the loop
Initialize it appropriately
Within the loop assign it false at the appropriate place

[RichersooN]

I think do while loop will be more appropriate for this program.