UVA100.c

UVA100.c

/*
READ THE QUESTIONS CAREFULLY!
EVERY WORD REGARDING ALGORITHM, INPUT, OUTPUT, ETC. MUST BE CAREFULLY READ AND FOLLOWED.
eg. Think of swapping the input; be cautious on the output format!!! 
What the statements said in the questions count, not my personal judgement!
The f****** "output order must be the same as input" statement caught me off guard TWICE! Learn the lesson.
*/

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int main()
{
    int input_lower_end, input_upper_end;

    while(scanf("%d %d", &input_lower_end, &input_upper_end) != EOF)
    {
        int initial_input_lower_end = input_lower_end, initial_input_upper_end = input_upper_end;
        if(input_lower_end > input_upper_end) /*check and swap numbers if needed*/
        {
            int temp = 0;
            temp = input_lower_end;
            input_lower_end = input_upper_end;
            input_upper_end = temp;
        }

        int counter = input_lower_end, cycle = 0;
        for(counter = input_lower_end; counter <= input_upper_end; counter++) /*check numbers between the lower and upper limits*/
        {
            int quotient = counter, cycle_temp = 0;
            while(quotient != 1)
            {
                if(quotient % 2 != 0)
                    quotient = 3 * quotient + 1;
                else
                    quotient /= 2;
                cycle_temp++;
            }
            cycle_temp++; /* if quotient != 1, this step still counts in the cycle*/
            cycle = (cycle >= cycle_temp) ? cycle : cycle_temp; /*a good idea to use it*/
        }
        printf("%d %d %d\n", initial_input_lower_end, initial_input_upper_end, cycle);
    }
    return 0;
}