Problem set 1 Mario variable issue

Question

I've been staring at my computer for so long trying little tweeks to fix the error message. TLDR how do I stop the shadow message from appearing and initialize variable h? The image looks confusing since I print screened after changing int h to int n but did't check correctness until after, see int n as int h. No matter what I do the message is the same. I've changed the variable from h to n like the example thinking that it was my choice in a random letter h that was the problem. I made int n and left my variable as h. I'm so confused now, this is my first time coding but I'm frustrated. Please help me, it is greatly appreciated. Blanked out some of the code for honor code reasons.

Answer 1

It's a scope issue. The variable "h" is created inside the curly braces, so it ceases to exist after the closing brace, where it is tested. In other words, h only exists between the curly braces on lines 10 and 12. You can't do it that way if you plan to use h outside of those curly braces.

Instead, create h before starting the loop so that it persists through the remaining code where you need it. int h; before the 'do' statement. And since you're going to set the contents of h immediately (inside the loop), there's no need to initialize it.

FYI, a variable will only exist between the nearest opening curly brace before it and the matching closing brace that follows. That's the "scope" of it's existence.

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