Mode Function: How does it work?

Question

I've recently created a C++ program to find the mean median and mode of an array of values.

I was able to modify a snipbit from something I found online to create a function that generates the mode, or at least the 1st most occurring values it can find, that I was able to implement. However, I am not 100% sure of how to wrap my head around what is actually happening within the function.

A better understanding of what is happening in the mode function would be greatly appreciated.

This is my code so far:

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

void mode(int[], int);
void mean(int[], int);
void sort(int[], int);
void median(int[], int);

int main()
{

   int array[15];
   float total, mode;
   int n = 15;//number of elements in array

    //fill in the value of array
    for(int i=0; i<n; i++){
        cout << "fill in the "<< i+1 << " number. :";
        cin >> array[i];
    }

    sort(array, n);
    return 0;
}
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
void mean(int new_array[], int num){
 //GET TOTAL & CALCULATE MEAN
    float total = 0;
    for(int i=0;i<num; i++){
        total += new_array[i];
    }
    cout << "The mean is " << total/num << endl;
    mode(new_array, num);
    }
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
void median(int new_array[], int num){
    //CALCULATE THE MEDIAN (middle number)
    if(num % 2 != 0){// is the # of elements odd?
        int temp = ((num+1)/2)-1;
        cout << "The median is " << new_array[temp] << endl;
    }
    else{// then it's even! :)
        cout << "The median is "<< new_array[(num/2)-1] << " and " << new_array[num/2] << endl;
    }
    mean(new_array, num);
}
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
void mode(int new_array[], int num) {
    int* ipRepetition = new int[num];
    // alocate a new array in memory of the same size (round about way of defining number of elements by a variable)
    for (int i = 0; i < num; i++) {
        ipRepetition[i] = 0;//initialize each element to 0
        int j = 0;//
        while ((j < i) && (new_array[i] != new_array[j])) {
            if (new_array[i] != new_array[j]) {
                j++;
            }
        }
        (ipRepetition[j])++;
    }
    int iMaxRepeat = 0;
    for (int i = 1; i < num; i++) {
        if (ipRepetition[i] > ipRepetition[iMaxRepeat]) {
            iMaxRepeat = i;
        }
    }
    cout<< "The mode is " << new_array[iMaxRepeat] << endl;

}
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

void sort(int new_array[], int num){
     //ARRANGE VALUES
    for(int x=0; x<num; x++){
         for(int y=0; y<num-1; y++){
             if(new_array[y]>new_array[y+1]){
                 int temp = new_array[y+1];
                 new_array[y+1] = new_array[y];
                 new_array[y] = temp;
             }
         }
     }
    cout << "List: ";
    for(int i =0; i<num; i++){
        cout << new_array[i] << " ";
    }
    cout << "\n";
    median(new_array, num);
}
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Answer 1

At a very high level, first it leaks memory.

int* ipRepetition = new int[num];

allocates a new array and nothing calls delete[] afterwards.

Second, it fills the new array with zeros by walking through the size of the original array of data one at a time up to the current place it has got toi, if (new_array[i] != new_array[j]) (which it checks twice just to be sure) it increments j.

If it finds a match or gets to the end of the elements it has filled so far it adds one to the ipRepetition array in position j. This is trying to keep track of how often the number in new_array at index i is used.

The next for loop then walks through these numbers to find the index i largest value.

It then prints the value in the original array at this index.

It might be more useful if the function were changed to return the value. Since it is C++ you could use a vector instead to avoid the memory leak.