Student Assignment

printStars.cpp

#include <iostream>
#include <limits>
#include <cmath> //Has our Absolute value function: abs()


namespace BTH { //Brent Taylor Helper namespace. ;)
	template<typename T>
	bool InputFromStream(std::istream &InputStream, T &Result) {
		InputStream >> Result;
		if (!InputStream.good()) {
			InputStream.clear();
			InputStream.ignore(std::numeric_limits<std::streamsize>::max(), '\n');
			return false;
		}
		return true;
	}
	void ClearInputBuffer(std::istream &InputStream) {
		InputStream.ignore(std::numeric_limits<std::streamsize>::max(), '\n');
	}
}

void PrintCharacter(int Iterations, char Character) {
	//Might be a bad idea to give a negative number here. ;)
	//Let's get the absolute value and cache the result.
	const int AbsIterationCache = std::abs(Iterations);
	
	for (int i = 0; i < AbsIterationCache; i++) {
		std::cout << Character;
	}
	std::cout << std::endl << std::endl;
}

int main()

{
	int numChars;

	while (numChars != 100)
	{
		std::cout << "Enter number of stars: ";
		if (!BTH::InputFromStream<int>(std::cin, numChars)) {
			std::cout << "Please enter a number!" << std::endl;
			continue;
		}

		std::cout << std::endl;
		
		if (numChars < 0)
		{
			PrintCharacter(numChars, '-');
		}
		else if (numChars >= 100000)
		{
			std::cout << "Bad idea, trust me." << std::endl;
		}
		else
		{
			PrintCharacter(numChars, '*');
		}
		BTH::ClearInputBuffer(std::cin);	
	}

	return 0;
}