The purpose of the code is to merge two ordered lists (list 1 : 5 integers, list 2 : 8 integers) into another third ordered list, whilst maintaining their order, while entries that appear in more than one list also appear multiple times in the result.
Example:
An input of List1 (Feld1): 3 6 7 9 10, merged with an input of List2(Feld2): 2 7 11 12 15 17 20 21 would result into a third list(Ergebnisfeld) of: 2 3 6 7 7 9 10 11 12 15 17 20 21.
This code works well on my computer, but since I am pretty new to this, I would like to ask, if this is:
- The most efficient way to do this (e.g. is the combination of a while and a repeat/until loop the best code for this, or is a for loop better)
- If there are any problems with the code, which I am too inexperienced to see, but which might cause me problems later
program merge (input, output);
{ Reads two ordered lists of integers keyed in by the user, and merges
them into a third ordered list, without checking their order.
if the input is not sorted, the result will be undefined.}
const
FELDLAENGE1 = 5;
FELDLAENGE2 = 8;
ERGEBNISFELDLAENGE = 13; { FELDLAENGE1 + FELDLAENGE2}
type
tFeld1 = array [1..FELDLAENGE1] of integer;
tFeld2 = array [1..FELDLAENGE2] of integer;
tErgebnisFeld = array [ 1..ERGEBNISFELDLAENGE] of integer;
var
Feld1 : tFeld1;
Feld2 : tFeld2;
ErgebnisFeld : tErgebnisFeld;
i : integer;
j : integer;
k : integer;
begin
{ read ordered lists (Felder) }
writeln (' Please key in', FELDLAENGE1:2, ' values in ascending order for
the first list. ');
for i := 1 to FELDLAENGE1 do
readln (Feld1[i]);
writeln (' Please key in', FELDLAENGE2:2, ' values in ascending order for
the second list. ');
for j := 1 to FELDLAENGE2 do
readln (Feld2[j]);
{ Merge Feld1 and Feld2 into ErgebnisFeld}
i :=1;
j :=1;
k := 1;
while (i <= FELDLAENGE1) and (j <= FELDLAENGE2) do
if Feld1[i] <= Feld2[j] then
begin
ErgebnisFeld[k] := Feld1[i];
i := i+1;
k := k+1
end
else
begin
ErgebnisFeld[k] := Feld2[j];
j := j +1;
k := k +1
end;
{ add remaining values to ErgebnisFeld}
if i > FELDLAENGE1 then
repeat
ErgebnisFeld[k] := Feld2[j];
j := j + 1;
k := k + 1
until k = ERGEBNISFELDLAENGE+1
else
repeat
ErgebnisFeld[k] := Feld1[i];
i := i + 1;
k := k + 1
until k = ERGEBNISFELDLAENGE+1;
writeln ('The merged list is: ');
for k := 1 to ERGEBNISFELDLAENGE do
write (ErgebnisFeld[k], ' ');
writeln;
readln;
end.
1 Answer 1
First, I think you might separate the input/output part from processing data by enclosing the merging routine in a separate procedure. Then the merging procedure can be reused in many places of your program. And if you move it to a separate unit you'll be able to reuse it in other programs, too, if necessary.
program merge (input, output);
{ Reads two ordered lists of integers keyed in by the user, and merges
them into a third ordered list, without checking their order.
If the input is not sorted, the result will be undefined.}
const
FELDLAENGE1 = 5;
FELDLAENGE2 = 8;
ERGEBNISFELDLAENGE = 13; { FELDLAENGE1 + FELDLAENGE2}
type
tFeld1 = array [1..FELDLAENGE1] of integer;
tFeld2 = array [1..FELDLAENGE2] of integer;
tErgebnisFeld = array [ 1..ERGEBNISFELDLAENGE] of integer;
procedure mergeTwoArrays( var Feld1 : tFeld1; var Feld2 : tFeld2;
var ErgebnisFeld : tErgebnisFeld)
var
i : integer;
j : integer;
k : integer;
begin
i := 1;
j := 1;
k := 1;
while (i <= FELDLAENGE1) and (j <= FELDLAENGE2) do
if Feld1[i] <= Feld2[j] then
begin
ErgebnisFeld[k] := Feld1[i];
i := i + 1;
k := k + 1
end
else
begin
ErgebnisFeld[k] := Feld2[j];
j := j + 1;
k := k + 1
end;
{ add remaining values to ErgebnisFeld}
if i > FELDLAENGE1 then
repeat
ErgebnisFeld[k] := Feld2[j];
j := j + 1;
k := k + 1
until k = ERGEBNISFELDLAENGE+1
else
repeat
ErgebnisFeld[k] := Feld1[i];
i := i + 1;
k := k + 1
until k = ERGEBNISFELDLAENGE+1;
end;
var
Feld1 : tFeld1;
Feld2 : tFeld2;
ErgebnisFeld : tErgebnisFeld;
i : integer;
j : integer;
begin
{ read ordered lists (Felder) }
writeln (' Please key in', FELDLAENGE1:2, ' values in ascending order for the first list. ');
for i := 1 to FELDLAENGE1 do
readln (Feld1[i]);
writeln (' Please key in', FELDLAENGE2:2, ' values in ascending order for the second list. ');
for j := 1 to FELDLAENGE2 do
readln (Feld2[j]);
{ Merge Feld1 and Feld2 into ErgebnisFeld}
mergeTwoArrays( Feld1, Feld2, ErgebnisFeld);
{ output results from ErgebnisFeld}
writeln ('The merged list is: ');
for k := 1 to ERGEBNISFELDLAENGE do
write (ErgebnisFeld[k], ' ');
writeln;
readln;
end.
Another change I would make is simplifying the code to append input lists' tails in the final part of merge – you can do that with two separate while loops, similar to the main merging loop. Exactly one of them will do the actual work, and the cost of not entering the other one equals the cost of the conditional (if-then-else) in your version.
{ add remaining values from Feld1 to ErgebnisFeld}
while i <= FELDLAENGE1 do
begin
ErgebnisFeld[k] := Feld1[i];
i := i + 1;
k := k + 1
end;
{ add remaining values from Feld2 to ErgebnisFeld}
while j <= FELDLAENGE2 do
begin
ErgebnisFeld[k] := Feld2[j];
j := j + 1;
k := k + 1
end;
Then you may use open arrays to make the routine more generic, so it could merge arrays of arbitrary lenghts, not just 5 plus 8.
You can also explicitly pass the lengths of both input lists as parameters to the routine, so it can merge lists shorter than arrays in which they're stored.
procedure mergeTwoArrays( var Feld1 : array of integer; feldLange1 : integer;
var Feld2 : array of integer; feldLange2 : integer;
var ErgebnisFeld : array of integer)
var
i, j, k : integer;
begin
i := 0; { indices of open arrays start from 0 }
j := 0; { and end at length-1 }
k := 0;
{ merge Feld1 and Feld2 to ErgebnisFeld until one of them becomes empty}
while (i < feldLange1) and (j < feldLange2) do { note the comp. operator }
if Feld1[i] <= Feld2[j] then
begin
ErgebnisFeld[k] := Feld1[i];
i := i + 1;
k := k + 1
end
else
begin
ErgebnisFeld[k] := Feld2[j];
j := j + 1;
k := k + 1
end;
{ add remaining values from Feld1 to ErgebnisFeld}
while i < feldLange1 do
begin
ErgebnisFeld[k] := Feld1[i];
i := i + 1;
k := k + 1
end;
{ add remaining values from Feld2 to ErgebnisFeld}
while j < feldLange2 do
begin
ErgebnisFeld[k] := Feld2[j];
j := j + 1;
k := k + 1
end;
end;