Random Change for a Dollar

This little program prints out a random combination of coins that make up a dollar.


use warnings;
use strict;


my @coins = (
 {counter => 0, value => 25, name => "quarter"},
 {counter => 0, value => 5,  name => "nickel" },
 {counter => 0, value => 10, name => "dime"   },
 {counter => 0, value => 1,  name => "penny"  }
);
my $dollar = 100;
my $totalval= 0;


while ($totalval<100) {
    my $rnum = rand @coins;
    my $temp=$coins[$rnum]{value}+$totalval;
    if ($temp<=100) {
    $totalval += $coins[$rnum]{value};
    $coins[$rnum]{counter}++;
    } else { ;; }
}

print "Change for a Dollar\n";

for(my $i=0; $i<=3; $i++) {
    print $coins[$i]{counter}, " ", $coins[$i]{name}, "(s)\n";
}
[download]

Update: This, BTW, is the first time I've submitted any kind of code.

Comment on Random Change for a Dollar Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Random Change for a Dollar by halley (Prior) on May 19, 2003 at 14:08 UTC
A couple minor comments. First, separate the dynamic data from the static data. You have a nice little structure to define the coins, but you also store the counters in that same structure. This means you have to create or clear that definition table before every transaction. Keep them separate. Second, you're "humanizing" the output with names like quarter and nickel. So finish the job and get rid of that canned mechanical "penny(s)" wording, and don't mention the coins that are not counted. (Not tested.) `foreach (@coins) { next if not $_->{counter}; my $name = (1==$_->{counter})? $_->{name} : ($_->{plural} \|\| $_->{name}.'s'); print $_->{counter}, " ", $name, "\n"; }` [download] Threading it into a sentence instead of a columnar list is left as an exercise. -- `[ e d @ h a l l e y . c c ]`	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Random Change for a Dollar by TVSET (Chaplain) on May 19, 2003 at 17:31 UTC
I think you did mean `$dollar` in all those places, where you have a `100`. Actually, I am surprised that warnings didn't warn you about having a variable used in only one place. :) Leonid Mamtchenkov aka TVSET	[reply] [d/l] [select]