Implementing URL shortener logic in JavaScript

Question

As a result of finding this interesting question, I decided to write an example in JavaScript which implemented the logic and contribute it back to the question. The problem is that I'm having some issues implementing the logic. I can speak Ruby which is what I'm basing my implementation on, but I'm having an issue with an endless while loop which I'm having trouble sorting out.

I have the whole implementation up on js.do.it here: http://jsdo.it/rfkrocktk/k9Jq

function encode(i) {
   if (i == 0) return DICTIONARY[0];

   var result = '';
   var base = DICTIONARY.length;

   while (i > 0) {
       result += DICTIONARY[i % base];
       i = i / base;
   }

   result = result.reverse();
   return result;
}

What am I doing wrong here?

`/` probably isn't doing what you expect. `1/2 => 0.5` – numbers1311407 Sep 25 '11 at 21:49 — numbers1311407, Sep 25 '11 at 21:49

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 25 '11 at 21:51

1

Javascript uses floating point math by default. Use i = Math.floor(i / base);

answered Sep 25 '11 at 21:51

Kevin Stricker

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That was definitely one of the issues, fixed it. – Naftuli Kay Sep 25 '11 at 22:27

Implementing URL shortener logic in JavaScript

1 Answers1