Help with a homework problem?

[MisterSinyster]

need help with a homework problem and i've been starring at code all day and my brain is fried... any advice or pointers would be greatly appreciated

Description of the Problem
Write a method minimum3 that returns the smallest of three floating-point numbers. Use the Math.min method
to implement minimum3. Incorporate the method into an application that reads three values from the user, determines
the smallest value and displays the result.

// Lab 1: Min.java
// Program finds the minimum of 3 numbers
import java.util.Scanner;

public class Min
{
   // find the minimum of three numbers
   public void findMinimum()
   {
      Scanner input = new Scanner( System.in );

      double one; // first number
      double two; // second number
      double three; // third number
      
      System.out.printf( "%s\n   %s\n   %s\n", 
         "Type the end-of-file indicator to terminate", 
         "On UNIX/Linux/Mac OS X type <ctrl> d then press Enter",
         "On Windows type <ctrl> z then press Enter" );
      System.out.print( "Or enter first number: " );
      
      while ( input.hasNext() )
      {
         one = input.nextDouble();

         /* Write code to get the remainder of the inputs and 
            convert them to double values */
         two = input.nextDouble();
         three = input.nextDouble();
         
         /* Write code to display the minimum of the three floating-point numbers */
         System.out.printf("Minimum is: %f ",  minValue);
         System.out.printf( "\n%s\n   %s\n   %s\n", 
            "Type the end-of-file indicator to terminate", 
            "On UNIX/Linux/Mac OS X type <ctrl> d then press Enter",
            "On Windows type <ctrl> z then press Enter" );
         System.out.print( "Or enter first number: " );
      } // end while
   } // end method findMinimum

   // determine the smallest of three numbers
   /* write the header for the minimum3 method */
   public void minimum3()
   {
      double x;
	  double y;
	  double z;
	  double minValue;
	  
	  minValue = x;
	  
	  if (minValue > y)
	     minValue = y;
		 
	  if (minValue > z)
	     minValue = z;
      // determine the minimum value
      return minValue; /* Write code to compute the minimum of the three numbers 
                using nested calls to Math.min */
   } // end method minimum3
} // end class Min

[jon.kiparsky]

I don't see anything obviously wrong except the missing semi after the return statement and the fact that you're not using Math.min - what is the problem you're having?

[MisterSinyster]

missed a few semi's but added them already.
compiler errors
line 32 - cannot find symbol : variable minValue
line 58 - cannot return a value whose result type is void

also i've never used math.min. could you give an example possibly?

[jon.kiparsky]

Thanks, that helps.

line 32 - you're referring to a variable that doesn't exist at this point. minValue is local to the minimum3 method. You'll fix that by fixing that method to return a value, and then using that value.

line 58 - minimum3 is declared to return no value. Change "void" to "double" and you'll be required to return a value. Once you've done that, replace "minValue" at line 32 with the call to that method:

System.out.printf("Minimum is: %f ",minimum(one, two, three));

As for math.min, it's a function of two arguments and it returns the lesser of the two. For more information, look at the API documentation for the Math class.