I've got my wires crossed somewhere (or I had not enough sleep). I need a two-way loop, and my current code is just plain ugly.
Problem: I am running along a linear datastructre using an index. I have an starting index, lets say 120. I want to run alternating into both directions.
Example: 120,121,119,122,118,123,117,...
I have a stopping criterion which needs to be met for each direction separately. If it is met for one direction, I only want to run into the other direction, if both are met I need to exit the loop. In addition I need to stop if the next index is invalid (end of data structure, say smaller than 0 or bigger than 200).
Example: Stopping execution at 116 backwards and 130 forward: 120,121,119,122,118,123,117,124,116,(break),125,126,127,128,129,130.
Running into one direction first, then the other one is unfortunately not an option.
My current code is plain ugly. It is a lot of lines without containing any "productive" code. Only iteration logic:
int start_idx = 120;
int forward_idx = start_idx;
int backward_idx = start_idx;
bool next_step_forward = true; //should next step be forward or backward?
int cur_idx;
while(backward_idx >= 0 || forward_idx >= 0)
{
if(next_step_forward //if we should step forward
&& forward_idx >= 0) //and we still can step forward
{
cur_idx = ++forward_idx;
if(forward_idx >= 200) //200 is fictive "max index"
{
next_step_forward = false;
forward_idx = -1; //end of data reached, no more stepping forward
continue;
}
if(backward_idx >= 0)
{
next_step_forward = false;
}
}
else if(!next_step_forward
&& backward_idx >= 0)
{
cur_idx = --backward_idx;
if(backward_idx < 0) //beginning of data reached, no more stepping backward
{
next_step_forward = true;
continue;
}
if(forward_idx >= 0)
{
next_step_forward = true;
}
}
else
{
next_step_forward = !next_step_forward; //ever hit?, just security case
continue;
}
//loop body
//do something with cur_idx here
if(stoppingCriterionMet())
{
if(cur_idx > start_idx)
{ //this was a forward step, stop forward stepping
forward_idx = -1;
}
else
{ //this was backward step, stop backward stepping
backward_idx = -1;
}
}
}
Am I missing anything? Any hints appreciated. Thanks.
Edit 1: There are lots of very nice answers, which put "do something with cur_idx" into a separate function. While this is a perfect idea for the way my question was asked, I prefer putting the iterating code somewhere else and leave the productive code there. I have a long algorithm and want to split it up after it is finished to minimize rearangement work.