How do i find out which element in an array holds the highest value?

Question

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main()
{
    int personPancake[10];
    int small, big;

    for (int c = 0; c < 10; c++)
    {
        cout << "Enter how many pancakes person " << c + 1 << " ate: ";
        cin >> personPancake[c];
    }

    big = small = personPancake[0];

    for (int c = 0; c < 10; c++)
    {
        if (personPancake[c] > big)
        {
            big = personPancake[c];
        }

        if (personPancake[c] < small)
        {
            small = personPancake[c];
        }
    }

    cout << "Biggest: " << big << endl;
    cout << "Smallest: " << small << endl << endl;
}

This is the code that i have atm, I have figured out the smallest and biggest numbers as you can see. I need help finding out the index of the element which holds the biggest and the smallest value.

Answer 1

You could setup two other variables to hold the current smallest and biggest indexes. So in your if statements...

int biggestIndex, smallestIndex;

if (personPancake[c] > big)
    {
        biggestIndex = c;
        big = personPancake[c];
    }

    if (personPancake[c] < small)
    {
        smallestIndex = c;
        small = personPancake[c];
    }

Answer 2

Don't store the value of personPancake[c]. Store the index of c in big or small.

Then change your comparison to use personPancake[big or small].

Answer 3

try

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main()
{
int personPancake[10];
int small, big;
int indexsmall=0,indexbig=0;
for (int c = 0; c < 10; c++)
{
    cout << "Enter how many pancakes person " << c + 1 << " ate: ";
    cin >> personPancake[c];
}

big = small = personPancake[0];

for (int c = 0; c < 10; c++)
{
    if (personPancake[c] > big)
    {
        big = personPancake[c];
        indexbig=c;
    }

    if (personPancake[c] < small)
    {
        small = personPancake[c];
        indexsmall=c;
    }
}

cout << "Biggest: " << big << endl;
cout << "Index Biggest: " << indexbig << endl;
cout << "Smallest: " << small << endl << endl;
cout << "Index Smallest: " << indexsmall << endl << endl;

}

Answer 4

You need to store c when you find the biggest and the smallest number the same way you did for big and small

int bigIdx, smallIdx;

for (int c = 0; c < 10; c++)
    {
        if (personPancake[c] > big)
        {
            big = personPancake[c];
            bigIdx = c;
        }

        if (personPancake[c] < small)
        {
            small = personPancake[c];
            smallIdx = c;
        }
    }

Answer 5

Add variables that hold the index

int main()
{
    int personPancake[10];
    int small, big, smallIndex, bigIndex;

    for (int c = 0; c < 10; c++)
    {
        cout << "Enter how many pancakes person " << c + 1 << " ate: ";
        cin >> personPancake[c];
    }

    big = small = personPancake[0];
    bigIndex = smallIndex = 0;

    for (int c = 0; c < 10; c++)
    {
        if (personPancake[c] > big)
        {
            big = personPancake[c];
            bigIndex = c;
        }

        if (personPancake[c] < small)
        {
            small = personPancake[c];
            smallIndex = c;
        }
    }

    cout << "Biggest: " << big << endl;
    cout << "Smallest: " << small << endl;
    cout << "Biggest Index: " << bigIndex << endl;
    cout << "Smallest Index: " << smallIndex << endl << endl;
}