pow() returning 0 (C++)

Question

Could someone explain why pow() in the following code is returning a 0 when the program is run, rather than the actual calculation? I'm a newbie to programming and I'm entirely stumped.

Thanks for any help.

#include <iostream>
#include <math.h>
#include <windows.h>
using namespace std;
//Prototypes:

double phiExpo;

double phiNegExpo;    

double opt1f(double phi, double userInput){
      return userInput * phi;}    

double opt2f(double phi, double userInput){
      return userInput / phi;}  

double opt3f(){
      return phiExpo;}   

double opt4f(){
      return phiNegExpo;}   

double phiExpof(double phi, double userInput){
      pow(phi, userInput);}

double phiNegExpof(double phi, double userInput){
      pow(phi,-userInput);}

//Execute program:

int main()
{
    double userInput;
    int userChoice;
    double phi = 1.61803399;
    bool quit = false; 
    int userChoice2;
    cout << "I want to (press corresponding number, then enter):" << endl;
    cout << endl;
    startchoices: 
    cout << "1. Multiply by phi:" << endl;
    cout << "2. Divide by phi:" << endl;
    cout << "3. Exponentiate phi:" << endl;
    cout << "4. Negatively exponentiate phi:" << endl;
    cout << "5. Quit." << endl;    
    cout << endl;
    cin >> userChoice;
    cout << endl;  
    do {    
       switch (userChoice){

              case 1:
              cout << "Enter number for multiplication: ";
              cin >> userInput;
              cout << endl;
              cout << "Phi multiplied by " << userInput << ": ";   
              cout << opt1f(phi, userInput) << endl;
              cout << endl;
              Sleep(2000);
              cout << "1. Continue." << endl;
              cout << "2. Return to menu." << endl;
              cout << endl;
              cin >> userChoice2;
              cout << endl;
              if(userChoice2 > 1){
                  goto startchoices;}            
              break;

              case 2:
              cout << "Enter number for division: ";
              cin >> userInput;
              cout << endl;
              cout << "Phi divided by " << userInput << ": ";
              cout << opt2f(phi, userInput); 
              cout << endl;
              Sleep(2000);
              cout << "1. Continue." << endl;
              cout << "2. Return to menu." << endl;
              cout << endl;
              cin >> userChoice2;
              cout << endl;
              if(userChoice2 > 1){goto startchoices;}               
              break; 

              case 3:
              cout << "Enter number to exponentiate phi by: ";
              cin >> userInput;
              cout << endl;
              cout << "Phi to the power of " << userInput << ": ";
              cout << opt3f();
              cout << endl;
              Sleep(2000);
              cout<<endl;
              cout << "1. Continue." << endl;
              cout << "2. Return to menu." << endl;
              cout << endl;
              cin >> userChoice2;
              cout << endl;
              if(userChoice2 > 1){goto startchoices;}               
              break; 
        }
    }
}

Answer 1

You never actuall call pow. On choice 3, you only call opt3f, which only returns the global variable phiExpo, which is initialized to 0 because it's global. Then you also need to return from the phiExpof function, like others already pointed out.

Answer 2

It is probably not returning 0. Instead, you are not returning the result of pow:

double phiExpof(double phi, double userInput){
      return pow(phi, userInput);
}

When you don't explicitly return a value, you will get undefined behavior, in this case 0.

Note: I didn't notice the other code... This is one problem. The other is that you aren't actually calling phiExpof. Instead you are returning phiExpo which is a global variable.

Answer 3

How do you know it's returning 0? Your code doesn't even check the return value.