Minimum integer in array of integers C++

Question

I am trying to create a program to find the minimum integer in an array of integers. This is my code:

#include<iostream>

using namespace std;

int findMinimum(int array);

int findMinimum(int array){
  int arraySize = sizeof(array)/sizeof(int);
  int minimum = array[0];
  for (int i = 0; i < arraySize; i++){
    if (arraySize[i] < minimum){
      minimum = arraySize[i];
    }
  }
  return minimum;
}

int main(){
  int array[7] = {17,2,10,291,28,10,11};
  int minimum = findMinimum(array);
  cout << "The minimum of the array is: " << minimum;
}

I am getting this error:

    /Users/Danny/Desktop/C++/Practice/arrays.cpp:9:22: error: subscripted value is not an array, pointer, or vector
  int minimum = array[0];
                ~~~~~^~
/Users/Danny/Desktop/C++/Practice/arrays.cpp:11:18: error: subscripted value is not an array, pointer, or vector
    if (arraySize[i] < minimum){
        ~~~~~~~~~^~
/Users/Danny/Desktop/C++/Practice/arrays.cpp:12:26: error: subscripted value is not an array, pointer, or vector
      minimum = arraySize[i];
                ~~~~~~~~~^~
/Users/Danny/Desktop/C++/Practice/arrays.cpp:20:17: error: no matching function for call to 'findMinimum'
  int minimum = findMinimum(array);
                ^~~~~~~~~~~
/Users/Danny/Desktop/C++/Practice/arrays.cpp:7:5: note: candidate function not viable: no known conversion from 'int [7]' to 'int' for 1st argument
int findMinimum(int array){

How do I fix these errors? Thank you.

Well, array in findMinimum(), despite the name, isn't an array... it's just an int. — Barry
– Barry, Commented Feb 21, 2016 at 21:41
@Barry but when I create an integer array, its "int arrayName[2] = {1,2};". What type do I call for then? — D. Lin
– D. Lin, Commented Feb 21, 2016 at 21:44
The [2] part is part of the type as well - arrayName isn't an int, it's an int[2]. — Barry
– Barry, Commented Feb 21, 2016 at 21:51

Frank Puffer · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-21 21:47:06Z

3

The function head should be:

int findMinimum(int* array)

However, for an int*, this won't work:

int arraySize = sizeof(array)/sizeof(int);

Therefore you should also pass the size to the function:

int findMinimum(int* array, int size)

You should also consider to use std::vector instead of the array.

edited Feb 21, 2016 at 21:47

answered Feb 21, 2016 at 21:44

Frank Puffer

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3 Comments

Fang Over a year ago

He could also simply pass int array[7] to findMinimum, in case he doesn't want to bother with pointers.

Daniel Jour Over a year ago

Almost what I was about to write, nice! One note I'd like to add is that while passing a pointer and the size is quite natural, keeping to how the STL does things would mean passing a pointer to the begin and one past the end of the array. Oh, and the pointer should probably have type int const *.

Daniel Jour Over a year ago

@Fang Though the sizeof approach won't work with that, too.

Pete Becker · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-21 23:22:42Z

2

This may be cheating:

#include <algorithm>
#include <iostream>
#include <iterator>

int main() {
    int array[7] = { 17, 2, 10, 291, 28, 10, 11 };
    int min = *std::min_element(std::begin(array), std::end(array));
    std::cout << "The minimum of the array is: " << min << '\n';
    return 0;
}

edited Feb 21, 2016 at 23:22

answered Feb 21, 2016 at 21:53

Pete Becker

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1 Comment

PaulMcKenzie Over a year ago

Need a * there for std::min_element's return value.

WhiZTiM · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-21 21:53:58Z

What you passed in this line

int minimum = findMinimum(array);

is actually a pointer to an int array... actually, the pointer to the first element. So, you want to change your function signature to

int findMinimum(int* array)

In the modified function int findMinimum(int* array), the line below will be wrong

int arraySize = sizeof(array)/sizeof(int);

because, array is already a decomposed pointer here... so you want to change the function again to

int findMinimum(int* array, int size)

Your complete program will be:

#include<iostream>

using namespace std;

int findMinimum(int* array, int arraySize);

int findMinimum(int* array, int arraySize){
  int minimum = array[0];
  for (int i = 0; i < arraySize; i++){
    if (arraySize[i] < minimum){
      minimum = arraySize[i];
    }
  }
  return minimum;
}

int main(){
  int array[7] = {17,2,10,291,28,10,11};
  int minimum = findMinimum(array, sizeof(array)/sizeof(int));
  cout << "The minimum of the array is: " << minimum;
}

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