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Finding the maximum (Posted on 2004-04-21) Difficulty: 3 of 5
Using only standard math operators (+, -, *, /) and functions (absolute value, square root, powers, and so on), give a function that calculates MAX(A,B,C).

Alternate version, for programmers only: using any language (BASIC, C, Excel, whatever) find the maximum of A, B, and C, but be careful when writing the program, because you cannot use the "" key, for it's broken (thus writing things like IF A>B is impossible...) and you cannot use the "M" key either, for it's also broken (...and writing H=MAX(A,B) is also not possible.)

See The Solution Submitted by e.g.    
Rating: 4.0000 (5 votes)

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Charlie's Program | Comment 11 of 16 |
Here is Charlie's program coded in Visual Basic. 
 
Imports System
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Imports System.Math
Module Module1
    Sub Main()
        Dim dblNumberA As Double
        Dim dblNumberB As Double
        Dim dblNumberC As Double
        Dim intPowerOf10 As Integer
        dblNumberA = 666
        While dblNumberA = 666
            Console.WriteLine("Please enter a whole number (not 666)")
            dblNumberA = Int(Console.ReadLine())
        End While
        intPowerOf10 = 666
        While intPowerOf10 = 666
            Console.WriteLine("Please enter a whole number P (not 666) " & _
            "to complete the formula: ")
            Console.WriteLine("First number = " & Str(dblNumberA) & _
            " * 10 ^ P ")
            intPowerOf10 = Int(Console.ReadLine())
        End While
        dblNumberA *= 10 ^ intPowerOf10
        '
        dblNumberB = 666
        While dblNumberB = 666
            Console.WriteLine("Please enter another whole number (not 666)")
            dblNumberB = Int(Console.ReadLine())
        End While
        intPowerOf10 = 666
        While intPowerOf10 = 666
            Console.WriteLine("Enter a whole number P (not 666) " & _
            "to complete the formula:")
            Console.WriteLine("Second number = " & Str(dblNumberB) & _
            " * 10 ^ P ")
            intPowerOf10 = Int(Console.ReadLine())
        End While
        dblNumberB *= 10 ^ intPowerOf10
        '
        dblNumberC = 666
        While dblNumberC = 666
            Console.WriteLine("Please enter another whole number (not 666)")
            dblNumberC = Int(Console.ReadLine())
        End While
        intPowerOf10 = 666
        While intPowerOf10 = 666
            Console.WriteLine("Enter a whole number P (not 666) " & _
            "to complete the formula:")
            Console.WriteLine("Third number = " & Str(dblNumberC) & _
            " * 10 ^ P ")
            intPowerOf10 = Int(Console.ReadLine())
        End While
        dblNumberC *= 10 ^ intPowerOf10
        '
        Console.WriteLine("Starting time of compare: " & TimeOfDay)
        FindMax(dblNumberA, dblNumberB, dblNumberC)
        Console.WriteLine("Pres Enter to Continue")
        Console.ReadLine()
    End Sub
    Sub FindMax(ByRef dblNumberA, ByRef dblNumberB, ByRef dblNumberC)
        Dim dblNumberAB As Double
        Dim dblNumberABC As Double
        Dim dblAbsWorkarea As Double
        Console.WriteLine("For numbers " & Str(dblNumberA) & _
        " " & Str(dblNumberB) & " " & Str(dblNumberC))
        dblNumberAB = (dblNumberA + dblNumberB) _
           / 2 + Abs(dblNumberA - dblNumberB) / 2
        dblNumberABC = (dblNumberAB + dblNumberC) / 2 + _
        Abs(dblNumberAB - dblNumberC) / 2
        Console.WriteLine("Max is " & Str(dblNumberABC))
        Console.WriteLine("Ending time of compare: " & TimeOfDay)
    End Sub
End Module

Edited on April 23, 2004, 5:29 am
  Posted by Penny on 2004-04-22 17:17:06

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