Question

Code works well except it doesn’t drop the lowest score and then calculates it.

Output Example:

How many test scores would you like to enter?
3
Enter the test score desired:
Score 1: 58
Score 2: 96
Score 3: 78
Test Scores Average with the lowest dropped is: 116.00

Problem:
As you can see on the output example, that is incorrect. It must display the average not including the lowest. Could you review my code and let me know where I have gone wrong? I’ve had several people look at it too and they’ve not been able to see any bugs in my code. Below is my code:

Code:

#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>

using namespace std;


int main()
{
    //To dynamically allocate an array, Accumulator, to hold the average scores.
    double *score;      
    double total = 0;  
    double average; 


    //int for counter, to hold the number of test scores.
    int count; 
    int numTest; 


    // To obtain the number of test scores the user would like to enter.
    cout << "How many test scores would you like to enter? " << endl;
    cin >> numTest; 


    //Dynamically allocates an array large enough to hold the amount of test scores to enter.
    score = new double[numTest];


    //Get the test scores.
    cout << "Enter the test score desired. " << endl;
    for (count = 0; count < numTest; count++)
    {
        cout << "Score " << (count + 1) << ": ";
        cin >> score[count];
    }

    //Find lowest score.
    int lowest = score[count];
    for (count = 1; count < numTest; count++)
    {
        if (score[count] < lowest) 
            lowest = score[0];
    }


    //Calculate the total test scores.
    for (count = 0; count < numTest; count++)
    {
        total += score[count];
        total -= lowest;
    }

    //Calculate the test scores average minus the lowest score. 
    average = total / (numTest - 1);

    //Display the results
    cout << fixed << showpoint << setprecision(2);
    cout << "Test Scores Average with the lowest dropped is: " << average << endl;

    //Free dynamically allocated memory
    delete [] score;
    score = 0; // Makes score point to null.

    system("pause");
    return 0;
}

Answer 1

You have three significant errors in this code:

First, the initial value of lowest:

//Find lowest score.
int lowest = score[count];  // ERROR
for (count = 1; count < numTest; count++)
{
    if (score[count] < lowest) 
        lowest = score[0];
}

The error is here:

int lowest = score[count];

It needs to be this:

int lowest = score[0];

Next, within the loop:

lowest = score[0]; // ERROR

Should be:

lowest = score[count];

So your loop should look like this:

//Find lowest score.
int lowest = score[0];
for (count = 1; count < numTest; count++)
{
    if (score[count] < lowest) 
        lowest = score[count];
}

Finally, the calculation of the total is also wrong. Subtract the lowest score after calculating the total of all scores, then divide by the number of scores less-one:

//Calculate the total test scores.
for (count = 0; count < numTest; count++)
{
    total += score[count];
    total -= lowest; // ERROR: should not be here. should be AFTER the loop
}

Should be :

for (count = 0; count < numTest; count++)
    total += score[count];
total -= lowest; // note: NOT in the loop