Shortest word in a sentence c

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Registered User

Unfortunately, there is no built-in function in C standard library which find the longest word given an input sentence. But you should be able to get something working using these standard functions:

getchar — for reading characters
isalpha — for testing whether something is a word character
strcpy — for saving the words into a list
strlen — for seeing which word is longest and how long it is

Write out a simple pseudocode first in plain english like
read a character
is it a word character?
if so, blah blah…
etc.

Then it reduces to a translation problem. Translate pseudocode to C. That’s what the forum can help you with, not really writing it for you.

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reply

Registered User

How much effort do you expect the members of this forum to put into helping you, when you show no effort yourself? People will be less inclined to help you if you’re simply copying someone else’s broken code.

Registered User

Very sorry for that. I’m just making comparisons to programs of others to my program. Anyway thank you for the responses. If I post my real program can you help me Mr. Matticus?

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My real program

Registered User

Very sorry for that. I’m just making comparisons to programs of others to my program. Anyway thank you for the responses. If I post my real program can you help me Mr. Matticus?
this is the real program that I made.

Ultraviolence Connoisseur

So even though you copied this code, there is a glaring bug in this code that was not mentioned in the other thread so I will mention it here.

This

Code:

#define LEN 20
...
     char word[LEN];
...
...

         while( (ch = getchar()) != 'n')
                if(i < LEN)
                  word[i++] = ch;

         word[i]  = ''; /* OOPS if i == LEN (which is possible due to the above loop) you tromp over memory thats not yours (undefined behavior) */
...

Registered User

Originally Posted by tgeandpudding

Very sorry for that. I’m just making comparisons to programs of others to my program. Anyway thank you for the responses. If I post my real program can you help me Mr. Matticus?
this is the real program that I made.

Of course! That’s why I’m here. Be sure to use code tags when posting your code, as well as any problems you’re having.

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Registered User

Originally Posted by Matticus

Of course! That’s why I’m here. Be sure to use code tags when posting your code, as well as any problems you’re having.

I don’t know how to use code tags. I am new here. Very sorry.

Registered User

Registered User

Originally Posted by tgeandpudding

I don’t know how to use code tags. I am new here. Very sorry.

It’s not that hard, read the link.

[code]
(paste your code here)
[/code]

Registered User

Originally Posted by Matticus

In the future, it would be better to just post your code so it can be referenced easily.

First of all, proper indentation is very important. Here is your code with better formatting:

Code:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <conio.h>

void main()
{
    char longestw, shortestw, temp,i;
    int longest = 0, shortest=0;

    while(temp=='')
    {
        scanf("%c",&temp);
        if(strlen(temp)>longest)
        {
            longestw=temp;
            longest=strlen(temp);
        }

        if(shortest==0)
        {
            shortest= strlen(temp);
            shortestw=temp;
        }
    }  // ???
        else(strlen(temp)<shortest)
        {
            shortest=strlen(temp);
            shortestw=temp;
        }
    }

    for(i=0; i<strlen(words);++i)
    {
        printf("%s",words[i]);
        if(i<strlen-1)
        {
            printf("%s,", word);
        }
        else
        {
            printf(".");
        }
    }

    printf("the longest word entered was %s with %d characters", longestw, longest);
    printf("the longest word entered was %s with %d characters", shortestw, shortest);
    getch();
    return 0;
}

Here’s what I see so far:

— With better indentation, it’s clear that you have an extra closing curly brace on line 24, which is an error.
— There’s no reason to use «conio.h» — it is non-standard, and you’re only using it for the «getch()» at the end of the program. This can accomplished easily with standard library functions.
— «main()» return «int», not «void»
— You need to use character arrays to store strings. You only have single character variables declared. This is insufficient to hold a string (which is a character array terminated with a null character, »).
— The variable «temp» is uninitialized, and is used (in the condition of the «while()» loop) before it is ever given a value.
— You’re only reading a single character with «scanf()». You need to read a string. «scanf()» with «%s» will stop reading at the first whitespace, so this is only good for a single word. «fgets()» is probably better for this project.
— You’re using variables that are never declared («words[]», «word»).

It seems clear that this code was written all at once without any intermediate testing (and perhaps with a hefty dose of copying). It is good practice to break you problem down into small steps, and tackle (and test) each one separately. And when you write code, compile often to make sure there are no mistakes along the way. Also, this is worth a read:

A development process

I would recommend writing a program to read a string from the user and print it out to the screen. Compile and test. When it’s working, add the next thing bit of code (say, to determine the longest word). Build up the program in steps.

A big thank you for your advice.

Registered User

Originally Posted by Matticus

In the future, it would be better to just post your code so it can be referenced easily.

First of all, proper indentation is very important. Here is your code with better formatting:

Code:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <conio.h>

void main()
{
    char longestw, shortestw, temp,i;
    int longest = 0, shortest=0;

    while(temp=='')
    {
        scanf("%c",&temp);
        if(strlen(temp)>longest)
        {
            longestw=temp;
            longest=strlen(temp);
        }

        if(shortest==0)
        {
            shortest= strlen(temp);
            shortestw=temp;
        }
    }  // ???
        else(strlen(temp)<shortest)
        {
            shortest=strlen(temp);
            shortestw=temp;
        }
    }

    for(i=0; i<strlen(words);++i)
    {
        printf("%s",words[i]);
        if(i<strlen-1)
        {
            printf("%s,", word);
        }
        else
        {
            printf(".");
        }
    }

    printf("the longest word entered was %s with %d characters", longestw, longest);
    printf("the longest word entered was %s with %d characters", shortestw, shortest);
    getch();
    return 0;
}

Here’s what I see so far:

— With better indentation, it’s clear that you have an extra closing curly brace on line 24, which is an error.
— There’s no reason to use «conio.h» — it is non-standard, and you’re only using it for the «getch()» at the end of the program. This can accomplished easily with standard library functions.
— «main()» return «int», not «void»
— You need to use character arrays to store strings. You only have single character variables declared. This is insufficient to hold a string (which is a character array terminated with a null character, »).
— The variable «temp» is uninitialized, and is used (in the condition of the «while()» loop) before it is ever given a value.
— You’re only reading a single character with «scanf()». You need to read a string. «scanf()» with «%s» will stop reading at the first whitespace, so this is only good for a single word. «fgets()» is probably better for this project.
— You’re using variables that are never declared («words[]», «word»).

It seems clear that this code was written all at once without any intermediate testing (and perhaps with a hefty dose of copying). It is good practice to break you problem down into small steps, and tackle (and test) each one separately. And when you write code, compile often to make sure there are no mistakes along the way. Also, this is worth a read:

A development process

Also, a pencil and paper can go a long way in developing logic. Don’t try to do it all in your head — figure it out by hand first, then use that to develop your code.

I would recommend writing a program to read a string from the user and print it out to the screen. Compile and test. When it’s working, add the next thing bit of code (say, to determine the longest word). Build up the program in steps.

Again thank you. I learn a lot of things today. Its already 11:00 am, I have classes tomorrow and the deadline of this code is tomorrow. Better luck next time. Next time I will do your advice so that I can make my code correctly.