#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
class Node
{
public:
    int data;
    Node *next;

    Node(int Data)
    {
        data = Data;
        next = NULL;
    }
};

//This FUNCTION is used to return the index value of the integer we trying to find
int index(Node *head, int find)
{
    Node *temp = head;
    int count = 0;
    while (temp != NULL)
    {
        temp = temp->next;
        count  ;
        if (temp->data == find)
        {
            return count;
        }
        else
        {

             // It should return -1 only when it doesn't find the particular variable

             return -1;
        }
    }
}

Idk why but it is always return -1 as value and I am not able to understand.

CodePudding user response：

What happens if the first node does contain the value that you want? Does it return 0?

Your conditional statement always results in a return statement, so it will return 0 if the first Node contains the value that you want, -1 if it does not.

CodePudding user response：

You put your return -1 as the else condition when the current node you're inspecting doesn't match what you're looking for. What you really want to do is return -1 after you've exhausted all the nodes (i.e. after your while loop)

It also makes the function more correct as it would return a value in all circumstances. At the moment if you pass NULL for head you haven't defined what should happen.