Re: 4 random numbers take highest 3 and add them together.

On Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 6:43 PM, h4y4shi 13bladex <[e-mail]
> wrote:

> I want to get 4 random numbers. The numbers will be between 1-6. I want
> to disregard the smallest number and add the three biggest numbers
> together. So far I wrote some ruby that I thought would do this but I
> keep getting an error.
>
> statsrand = 0
> while statsrand == 0
> stats1a = (rand(6) + 1)
> stats1b = (rand(6) + 1)
> stats1c = (rand(6) + 1)
> stats1d = (rand(6) + 1)
> gstats1a = 0
> gstats1b = 0
> gstats1c = 0
> gstats1d = 0
> when (stats1a>stats1b) | (stats1a>stats1c) | (stats1a>stats1d)
>  gstats1a = stats1a
> when (stats1b>stats1a) | (stats1b>stats1c) | (stats1b>stats1d)
>  gstats1b = stats1b
> when (stats1c>stats1b) | (stats1c>stats1a) | (stats1c>stats1d)
>  gstats1c = stats1c
> when (stats1d>stats1b) | (stats1d>stats1c) | (stats1d>stats1a)
>  gstats1d = stats1d
>
> mstr = gstats1a + gstats1b + gstats1c + gstats1d
>
> I cant find where the error is...
>
> --
> Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.
>
>
Hi, lots of problems here, to the point where it's very unclear where to
even begin identifying them. I recommend you start with something simple
that you can prove works to a given point (e.g. initializing the variables)
then slowly build onto it (e.g. find the largest, second largest, third
largest, and then their sum. This is very doable iteratively.

In the end, I think Harry's solution is best (except both array indexes
should count from the end so that it works for any given array of numbers).
But since you're clearly struggling with something considerably simpler
than that, it's probably best to see this idea through to the end in order
to build up your knowledge and problem solving abilities. Then later, learn
more about the fancy built in methods around enumerable classes.