Order of Operations problem.

[rem45acp]

I'm not sure if the problem is because of how the compiler handles nested order of operations or if it is because of the casting between two types.

const int size = 5;

//gives zero. not what it should be.
const double result = (size / ((size - 1) * (size - 2)));

//split it apart...with result getting the correct value of 0.416666...
const double temp = (size - 1) * (size - 2);
const double result = size / temp;

This problem is making me feel like a complete noob.
PS: This is being used in a routine for calculating skewness if that helps.

[Athar]

This has nothing to do with order of operations, it's because you're dividing two integers, which always yields another integer as a result. You need to cast at least one of the operands to a floating point number.

[ui uiho]

the problem is that size is an integer. if you divide an integer by an integer guess what you get? an integer. you need to do
const double result = ((size * 1.0) / ((size - 1) * (size - 2)));
the 1.0 makes the number a float. note that it will always go to the lowest decimal place allowed in the data type. and your are also restating a const variable here
const double result = size / temp; this will throw an error.

[rem45acp]

Thank you. I ended up declaring size as a double to fix it.

[ui uiho]

that works also.