Thread: Question about my code

The code box below includes a live int array variable called nums, whose declaration and initialization is hidden. The elements in this array are distinct. What is the largest element in the array? Write appropriate code, involving a loop, that will print this value to the console.

The answer you enter should execute exactly one System.out.println statement.


And below is my code:

int largest = nums[0];
for (int j = 0; j < nums.length; j++){
largest = nums[j];
System.out.println(largest);
}

it doesn't come out with the largest element. I don't know why. Can anyone help?

Hi,

That loop prints all the elements instead of just one. Can you see why?

And you're assiging nums[j] to 'largest' without checking first to see whether nums[j] is actually larger. So 'largest' just ends up with the last element, not the largest. Can you see why?

Oh, I think I mean to switch the largest = nums[j], so it should be nums[j] = largest

Originally Posted by justforeva

Oh, I think I mean to switch the largest = nums[j], so it should be nums[j] = largest

Are you sure about that? The 'nums' array is your input to be analyzed; its elements should not be changed.

You need to check if nums[j] is is greater than 'largest' before storing its value into 'largest'.

Your code runs through every element of the array and prints its value. Going through each element of the array is fine, but as you go through each element you should see if it is larger than the one you have. If that's the case, you have to stay with the largest.

Once you go through all the elements of the array, you can print out the largest.

Tip: You'll need to use an IF sentence somewhere.