Introduction to Programming (CS 101)

Spring 2024

Lecture 14:
- More about {arrays, structs, strings}
Instructor: Preethi Jyothi

- Based on material developed by Prof. Abhiram Ranade and Prof. Manoj Prabhakaran
Recap: Lexicographically compare two strings
int compare(char A[], char B[]) {
int i = 0;
while(true) {
if(A[i] == '\0' && B[i] == '\0') return 0;
if(A[i] == '\0') return -1;
if(B[i] == '\0') return 1;
if(A[i] < B[i]) return -1; Takes two strings A, B
and returns 0 if they are
if(A[i] > B[i]) return 1;
equal, 1 if A is
i++; lexicographically greater
} than B and -1 otherwise.
}
int main() {
char A[30], B[30];
cin.getline(A,30); cin.getline(B,30);
cout << A << " " << B << " " << compare(A,B) << endl;
}
Recap int compare(char A[], char B[]) {
int i = 0;
while(true) {
What is the output of the following program? if(A[i] == '\0' && B[i] == '\0') return 0;
if(A[i] == '\0') return -1;
main_program { if(B[i] == '\0') return 1;
char c1[20] = "hello"; if(A[i] < B[i]) return -1;
char c2[] = {'h','e','l','l','o'}; if(A[i] > B[i]) return 1;
i++;
}
if(!compare(c1,c2)) }
cout << "c1=c2"; A c1=c2
else if(compare(c1,c2) == 1)
cout << "c1>c2"; B c1>c2
else
cout << "c1<c2"; c1<c2
C
}

c1 is automatically terminated with a '\0', while c2 isn't. Note that the assignment
operator cannot be used again once a string is initialized. c1 = "world"; after char
c1[20] = "hello"; will result in a compiler error.
 Merge sort
CS 101, 2025
 Divide-and-Conquer
• Some algorithms use a Divide-and-Conquer strategy
(a.k.a. Divide-Conquer-and-Combine)
resultType f(inputType x) {
• A problem instance is divided into
two or more smaller problems if (baseCase(x))
return handleBaseCase(x);
• The smaller instances are solved
recursively inputType x1, x2;
Divide(x,x1,x2);
• The results are then combined to get
the result for the original instance resultType y1, y2;
• An example: Merge Sort y1 = f(x1); y2 = f(x2);

return Combine(y1,y2);
}
 Merge Sort
• Split into two (almost) equal halves, and recursively sort each half
• Merge the two sorted arrays into a single sorted array
53 46 94 43 17 12 60 98 86 50 36 26 57 80 77 18

Recursively Recursively
sort sort

12 17 43 46 53 60
18 94
26 98
36 50 5

Merge

12 17 18 26 36 43 46 50 53 57 60 77 80 86 94 98
 Merge Sort
• Split into two (almost) equal halves, and recursively sort each half
• Merge the two sorted arrays into a single sorted array
53 46 94 43 17 12 60 98 86 50 36 26 57 80 77 18

Recursively Recursively
sort sort

12 17 43 46 53 60
18 94
26 98
36 50 5

Merge

12 17 18 26 36 43 46 50 53 57 60 77 80 86 94 98

Video derived from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merge_sort#/media/File:Merge-sort-example-300px.gif

 Merge Sort
// merge X[left..mid] and X[mid+1..right] into Y[left..right], where mid = (left+right)/2
void merge(const int X[], int Y[], int left, int right) {
int mid = (left+right)/2, L = left, R = mid+1; // L,R: next indices of left/right halves
for(int i=left; i <= right; ++i) {
if(L <= mid && (R > right || X[L] <= X[R])) Y[i] = X[L++]; // copy from left
else Y[i] = X[R++]; // copy from right
}
}

12 17 43 46 53 60
18 94
26 98
36 50 5

Merge

12 17 18 26 36 43 46 50 53 57 60 77 80 86 94 98
 Merge Sort Output will be in the array out[ ] in
indices left,...,right. A temporary array
scratch[ ] passed as input (since its size is
void sort (const int in[], int out[], not known at compile-time).
int left, int right,
resultType f(inputType x) {
int scratch[]) {

if (baseCase(x))
if (left==right) {
return handleBaseCase(x);
out[left] = in[left];
return;
inputType x1, x2;
}
Divide(x,x1,x2);
int mid = (left+right)/2;
sort(in,scratch,left,mid,out);
resultType y1, y2;
sort(in,scratch,mid+1,right,out);
y1 = f(x1); y2 = f(x2);

merge(scratch,out,left,right);
return Combine(y1,y2);
}
}
More about multidimensional arrays
CS 101, 2025
2D arrays
• Recall matrices can be implemented using 2D arrays. Example:

float vals[2][3]; vals[0][0] vals[0][1] vals[0][2]

vals[1][0] vals[1][1] vals[1][2]

• We can de ne two-dimensional character arrays:

char countries[3][20] = {"India", "China", "Sri Lanka"};

• countries[i] will return the address of the zeroth character of the ith string in countries
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2D arrays
int main() {
char countries[3][20] = {"India", "China", "Sri Lanka"};
char capitals[3][20] = {"New Delhi", "Beijing", "Colombo"};
char country[20];
cout << "Enter country: ";
cin.getline(country, 20);
int i;
for(i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
if(compare(country,countries[i]) == 0) { //compare defined earlier
cout << "Capital -> " << capitals[i] << endl; break;
}
}
if(i == 3) cout << "Do not know the capital\n";
}
Passing two-dimensional arrays to functions
• One can pass a 2D array to a function. However, the second dimension must be given as a
compile-time constant. Example:

void print(char countries[][20], int num) {

for(int i = 0; i<num; i++) cout << countries[i] << endl;
}

• Such a print function can only be used with char arrays where the second dimension is 20

• Can be overcome with more exible array types like vector (coming in later slides)
fl
More about structs
CS 101, 2025
More about structs
• If a struct de nition appears before many functions, it will be visible to all the functions

• To avoid making copies, structs can be passed by reference

struct CS101Group {
char name[4]; //G1, G13, etc.
string TAs[10];
unsigned short int size;
⋮
};
void printGroup(const CS101Group& grp) {
cout << "name = " << grp.name << endl;
⋮
}
fi
Passing structs by value
• Consider the following struct representing 2D points with x, y coordinates:
struct Point {
double x;
double y;
};
• The following function returns a Point that is the midpoint of the line joining two points:
Point midpoint(Point a, Point b) {
Point mp; int main() {
mp.x = (a.x+b.x)/2; Point p1 = {0,0};
mp.y = (a.y+b.y)/2; Point p2 = {100,200};
return mp; Point p3 = midpoint(p1, p2); 150
output
} cout << midpoint(midpoint(p1,p2),p2).y;
}
Passing structs by reference
• Can pass struct parameters by reference (to avoid copies)
Point midpoint(const Point& a, const Point& b) {
Point mp; const means these reference parameters
will not be altered during execution
mp.x = (a.x+b.x)/2;
mp.y = (a.y+b.y)/2;
return mp;
}

• Say the parameters of midpoint were ordinary references and not const references. Now
you try to run cout << midpoint(midpoint(p1,p2),p2).y; from main(), as before.
What happens?
• Compiler error!

• Cannot pass a temporary object like midpoint(p1,p2) to a non-const reference

parameter
structs and member functions
• Functions can be a part of the structure itself. Example:
struct Point {
double x, y;
double length() {
return sqrt(x*x + y*y);
}
double shift(double dx, double dy) {
x+=dx; y+=dy;
}
};

• A member function is called on an object of the struct type using "." notation. Example:

Point p1; cout << p1.length();

structs and member functions
• Inside the body of the function, we can read or modify members of the struct object. Example:
x, y are directly accessible within the functions length and shift below
struct Point {
double x, y;
double length() {
return sqrt(x*x + y*y);
}
double shift(double dx, double dy) {
x+=dx; y+=dy;
}
void alter(double a) {
Note that x of a struct object will be altered here. And the
x = a; cout << length() << endl; call to length() will refer to the object used with alter.
That is, p1.alter(10) will calculate the length of p1.
}
};
More about strings
CS 101, 2025
More about string
• To use string, we need to add #include <string> to the program

string a = "hello", b = "world", c; Note that you do not need to worry about
the size of the strings, unlike C-style strings
c = a;

• Can read whitespace-delimited strings into a string using getline:

getline(cin, a); //to read a line into string a Will read from console into a,
until a newline is encountered

• Addition operator can be used with strings to concatenate them

c = a + " " + b; //will set c to "hello world"

• a[i] denotes the ith character of the string a

More about string
• Many useful member functions are available for string

string a = "hello";
int i = a.find("he"); //returns the starting index of the
//first occurrence of "he" within string a
int j = a.find("l", 3); //find starting from index 3

• If a given string is not found, nd returns a constant string::npos

• Comparison expressions <, >, = can be used for strings a, b assuming a lexicographic order
• Lexicographic order: Similar to how words are organized in a dictionary
• Comparison is done character by character, and based on underlying ASCII values
• Example: "hello" < "world", "hello" > "Hello" (ASCII value of h > ASCII value of H)
fi
Dynamic arrays (vector)
CS 101, 2025
Dynamic allocation

• C++ contains three primary array styles:

1. C-style arrays (inherited from C, you have already learned about these)

2. std::array array type

3. std::vector array type

} Part of C++'s Standard Template Library (STL)

• std::vector is arguably the most exible of the three types and has many useful
supporting features

• We will focus on std::vector since it offers many bene ts

fl
fi
vector (I)
• To use vectors, add the header line "#include <vector>" to the beginning of the program

• A vector can be initialized like an array. Example:

vector<int> A = {1, 2, 3};

Template argument: De nes the type of the elements in the vector

vector<float> B; //creating an empty vector of floats

• Elements can be accessed like an array. Example:

for(int i=0; i < A.size(); i++)

cout << A[i] << " "; Handy! You can use A.size() to determine the size of the vector

• Another method to access vector elements: at().

• A.at(2) will access the third element of A like A[2].

• Unlike[], the at() method also performs bound checking of whether the index lies

within the vector; so it allows for safely accessing vector elements

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vector (II)
• std::vector is a very exible alternative to C-style arrays

• A vector can dynamically grow or shrink

vector<char> C;
C.push_back('a'); //adds an element to the end of the vector
C.resize(3,'b'); //the vector becomes {'a', 'b', 'b'}
Value by which the extra elements of the vector are initialized

C.resize(2); //the vector becomes {'a', 'b'}

Extra elements exceeding the new size are deleted

• Vectors can be copied, passed/returned by value or reference

void printVector(vector<int>& v) { // ... print the vector elements
// call inside main()
vector<int> A = {1,3,5}; printVector(A);
fl
vector: Many other useful operations
• Remove the last element of the vector using pop_back()
vector<int> A = {11, 22, 33};
A.pop_back(); //the vector becomes {11, 22}

• Use empty() to check if the vector is empty

vector<int> A = {11, 22, 33};
cout << (A.empty() ? "empty\n" : "not empty\n");
• front() and back() allows for access to the rst and last element of a vector

• A range-based for loop can be used to access the elements of a vector as follows:
for(int x : A)
cout << x << endl;
• Quick way to initialize a vector of size n with all elements having the same value:
vector<int> A(n, 0); // will initialize A with n elements, all = 0
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Represent a matrix using vector

vector<vector<int>> A = {{11, 22, 33}, 11 22 33

{44, 55, 66}, 44 55 66

{77, 88, 99}}; 77 88 99

void print(vector<vector<int>>& matrix) {

for(int i = 0; i<matrix.size(); i++) {
for(int x : matrix[i])
cout << x << endl;
}
}

int main() {
print(A); //if A is defined as above
}
[Optional]: Finding maximum subarray
Given an array of ints, nd a contiguous subarray with the largest sum and return its sum.
int maxSubArraySum(const vector<int>& nums) {
int maxSum = nums[0];
int maxUntil_i = nums[0];
for (int i = 1; i < nums.size(); i++) {
int x = nums[i];
maxUntil_i = max(x, maxUntil_i + x);
maxSum = max(maxSum, maxUntil_i);
}
return maxSum;
}

int main() {
vector<int> nums = {-2, 1, -3, 4, -1, 2, 1, -5, 4};
cout << "Maximum subarray sum: " << maxSubArraySum(nums) << endl;
return 0;
}
Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximum_subarray_problem
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