Code returns memory address instead of expected output

[vipertherapper]

Here is my code:

#include <iostream>
#include <vector>

char RandomUpperChar()
{

    int charOne;
    int charTwo;
    int charThree;
    int charFour;
    const std::string characters = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ";
    srand (time(nullptr)); // Initialize random seed
    charOne = rand() % 26 + 1; // Generate a random number from 1-26, representing the alphabet
    charTwo = rand() % 26 + 1;
    charThree = rand() % 26 + 1;
    charFour = rand() % 26 + 1;
    int P[4] = {charOne, charTwo, charThree, charFour};

    std::cout << P;
   

}

int main()
{
    RandomUpperChar();
    return 0;
}

I'm expecting a different output, but my output is the following:

0x7fff586bcaf0

Why is this happening?

[jlb]

Why is this happening?

Remember P is an array, so when you try to print P you get the address of the array.

By the way what were you expecting?

[vipertherapper]

jlb, I was expecting the output of charOne...charFour, separated by commas. How can I print that value?

[fiji885]

Use a for loop to loop through the array and print it.

for(int i = 0; i < 4; i++)
{
    cout << P[i];
}

Since P is an array, you are just printing the address of the array, or the address of P[0].

[vipertherapper]

Here is what I have now:

char RandomUpperChar()
{
    int charOne;
    int charTwo;
    int charThree;
    int charFour;
    const std::string characters = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ";
    srand (time(nullptr)); // Initialize random seed
    charOne = rand() % 26; // Generate a random number from 1-26, representing the alphabet
    charTwo = rand() % 26;
    charThree = rand() % 26;
    charFour = rand() % 26;
    int P[4] = {charOne, charTwo, charThree, charFour};
    for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++) {
        std::cout << characters[P[i]] << std::endl;

    }


}

I get the expected output. Now what I want to do is push each letter generated to one array. In JavaScript, it would be something like push(). Is there something similar I should use? What's the best way to approach this?

Also, I feel as if using charOne, charTwo etc to generate these characters can be written more eloquently. How should I go about that?

[fiji885]

C++ doesn't allow extra elements to be added to an array once it's initialized. You may want to check out vectors.

http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/vector/vector/

As for the generation of the characters, there's no saying, since I don't exactly know what the program is trying to do. What you did is fine though. Everyone has their own way of design.

[vipertherapper]

Thanks for the help dasani. I decided to take this approach:

#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <array>
int RandomUpperChar()
{
    srand (time(nullptr));
    int i;
    int arr[i];
    int P[4];
    const std::string characters = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ";
    for (int i = 1; i <=4; i++) {
        arr[i] = rand() % 26;
        std::cout << characters[arr[i]] << std::endl;
    }
};


int main()
{
    RandomUpperChar();
    return 0;
}

Which appears to give me the same output with fewer lines of code (preferable).

I'll say this is "solved".

[fiji885]

Good on rewriting the code so that you don't have to initialize it one by one, BUT...

    int i; // i is actually not initialized here
    int arr[i]; // who knows what array size you are actually creating?
    int P[4];
    const std::string characters = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ";
    for (int i = 1; i <=4; i++) {
        arr[i] = rand() % 26; // What you're doing here is actually very dangerous
                                        // You're accessing memory that should not be accessible
                                        // which leads to memory leaks.