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C# C# Basics (Retired) Perfect Final

C# Code Challenge 2 prints out infinite not input number of times

Why does my code print out infinite Yay! instead of user input number of times I press Enter and Yay! is printed out the number of times I press Enter.

namespace Treehouse.CodeChallenges { class Program { static void Main() { Console.Write("Enter the number of times to print \"Yay!\": "); int numberCount = 0; try { numberCount = Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine()); } catch (FormatException fe) { Console.Write("You must enter a whole number."); Console.ReadLine(); } while (numberCount > 0) { numberCount =+1; Console.Write("Yay!"); Console.ReadLine(); } } }

Program.cs
using System;

namespace Treehouse.CodeChallenges
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main()
        {
            Console.Write("Enter the number of times to print \"Yay!\": ");
            int numberCount = 0;

            try
            {
                numberCount = Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine());
            }
            catch (FormatException fe)
            {
                Console.Write("You must enter a whole number.");
                Console.ReadLine();

            }



            while (numberCount > 0)
            {
                numberCount =+1;
                Console.Write("Yay!");
                Console.ReadLine();
            }

        }
    }
}

2 Answers

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,248 Points

:point_right: You're comparing the count against 0.

So no matter how many times you increment it in the loop, it will still be greater than 0 (until you exceed the maximum numeric storage value).

You might want to use a separate value to hold the user's limit, and and then compare the limit to the count:

//  while (numberCount > 0)                     <- so instead of this...
    while (numberCount < user_specified_limit)  // ...do something like this

I assume you added the ReadLine after they "Yay!" just for testing. Be sure to remove it for the challenge.

Also, be aware that if an error occurs, the challenge expects the program to print the error message out and then end, so so you don't want another ReadLine after the error. And be sure you don't print out any "Yay!"s in that case, either.

Thanks for your reply I am not sure what you meant when you wrote "You might want to use a separate value to hold the user's limit, and and then compare the limit to the count:" So what I did was use the while loop but the code would skip over the and end after the userSpecfied = numberCount and end. No print out of Yay. Then I removed the while and the code would print out Yah but only one time. This is what I experienced before the multi print ability of the string Yay from my original post.

namespace Treehouse.CodeChallenges { class Program { static void Main() { Console.Write("Enter the number of times to print \"Yay!\": "); int numberCount = 0; int userSpecifiedValue; try { userSpecifiedValue = Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine()); } catch (FormatException fe) { Console.Write("You must enter a whole number."); Console.ReadLine(); } userSpecifiedValue = numberCount; userSpecifiedValue ++; Console.Write("Yay!"); Console.ReadLine(); } } }

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,248 Points

You definitely need the loop to print the right number of times!

You must have had that working before to pass task 1, right? But you're pretty close if you put the loop back, and increment the count instead of the limit:

namespace Treehouse.CodeChallenges
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main()
        {
            Console.Write("Enter the number of times to print \"Yay!\": ");

            int numberCount = 0;
            int userSpecifiedValue = 0;     // added initialization here

            try
            {
                userSpecifiedValue = Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine());
            }
            catch (FormatException fe)
            {
                Console.Write("You must enter a whole number.");
                //Console.ReadLine();       <- this would confuse the challenge
            }

            //userSpecifiedValue = numberCount;         // do not change the user value!
            while (userSpecifiedValue > numberCount)    // put the loop back in
            {
                //userSpecifiedValue ++;    <- don't increment the user's value
                numberCount++;              // ...increment the counter instead!
                Console.Write("Yay!");
                //Console.ReadLine();       <- this would confuse the challenge
            }
        }
    }
}

Check the Markdown Cheatsheet link below for info on formatting code. :arrow_heading_down:

Thanks Steven I was attempting different combinations of the user and increment values. I will try this out and see how it works. Also tried to use =+ 1. I felt I was close but just missing something simple that I am unaware of. Appreciate your time and effort.