Question

Working on a class assignment and when I run this code

function paycheck1($hours,$payrate,$othours,$otrate){
        if ($hours > $othours){
            $total = "<tr><td>".($hours*$payrate)+($hours - $othours)*$otrate."</td></tr>";
        return $total;  
        }
        else{
            $total = "<tr><td>".$hours * $payrate."</td></tr>";
            return $total;
        }
}

$pay = 10;
$hours = 50;
$overtime_starts = 40;
$overtime_rate = 15; 
echo "<table>";
for ($i=0;$i<$hours;$i++){
echo paycheck1($i, $pay, $overtime_starts, $overtime_rate);
}
echo "</table>";

I get output like this

153045607590105120135
0
10
20
30
40.....

Why am I getting 153045607590105120135 When I run the code. If I remove the ($hours*$payrate)+ from the function->if it works just fine. Why am I getting what I use is an overflow error.

Answer 1

It’s easier to find the problem in the source if you put newlines at the end of your html, like:

$total = "<tr><td>".($hours * $payrate)."</td></tr>\n";

Also, you have to pay attention to the order of operations, even with the . operator.

This line:

$total = "<tr><td>".($hours*$payrate)+($hours - $othours)*$otrate."</td></tr>\n";

Needs parenthesis:

$total = "<tr><td>".(($hours*$payrate)+($hours - $othours)*$otrate)."</td></tr>\n";