The program is about function making an average. I get an error:
error: expected ';', ',' or ') before numeric constant
within the avg_array() function whenever I build it. Help would be appreciated, thanks!
#include <stdio.h> #define SIZE 5 // Prototypes int avg_array (int*, int); main() { int values[SIZE]; int avg; int i; printf("Enter 5 numbers please. \n"); for(i=0; i<SIZE; i++) { scanf("%d", &values[i]); } avg = avg_array(values, SIZE); printf("\n The avg of the array is %d \n", avg); getchar(); getchar(); } // end main() /* Implement avg_array() WHERE THE ERROR PERTAINS */ avg_array(int my_array[], int SIZE) { int sum; int i; int fxn_average; for(i=0; i<SIZE; i++) { sum = sum + my_array[i]; } fxn_average = (sum/SIZE); return (fxn_average); } 1 Answer
You are using the identifier SIZE as an argument. This is also a macro that gets converted to 5 by the preprocessor. After the preprocessor applies the macros, it would look like
avg_array (int my_array[], int 5) Since 5 is a numeric constant instead of an identifier, it generates an error. Change the variable name.
It looks like you also have a function signature missing a return type, which should match the prototype declared above. Try this instead:
int avg_array (int *my_array, int size) { int sum = 0; int i; for(i=0; i<size; i++) { sum = sum + my_array[i]; } return sum/size; } The variable sum should be initialized to 0. The local variable fxn_average is not needed because you can use just return sum/size; at the end instead.
I changed the type of the first argument from int[] (array of int) to int * (pointer to int) so the function definition matches the prototype given in the question. The function was declared as
int avg_array (int*, int); These arguments have no identifiers; only their types are specified. This is valid C, but many style guides prescribe against it since naming arguments helps the reader understand meaning or intent. If you are writing a programming interface, for example, all the programmer will likely see is the function prototypes in a header file. It must be clear what the arguments are to write a correct function call. Anyway, adding in identifiers looks like:
int avg_array (int *my_array, int size); which is the same as in the definition I used above.
5
