Hi,

I wrote some simple code to make sure everything was running correctly. I am using an Arduino Wifi Rev 2 board and everything shows up correctly (port, board, etc). The problem is every time I compile and run, no calculations are actually performed. The input will be requested, but no matter what I put in, I get zero. I've tried the code in Arduino IDE and Tinkercad and it works as intended there, but I love VS and would like to do my coding there. I've tried changing the code, I'm not sure what else to do. I've attached the code below. Thanks in advance!
-- a sad/hungryEEstudent

/*
 Name:		one.ino
 Created:	3/2/2021 12:09:54 AM
 Author:	Rashidat
*/
#include <SoftwareSerial.h>
#include <stdio.h>
// the setup function runs once when you press reset or power the board
float a, ans;
int b, j;

void setup() {
	Serial.begin(9600);
}

// the loop function runs over and over again until power down or reset
void loop() {

	Serial.println("What is a?");
	while (Serial.available() == 0);
		a = Serial.parseFloat();

	Serial.println("What is b?");
	while (Serial.available() == 0);
		b = Serial.parseInt();
	Serial.println();

	int ans = 0;
	int j = 0;
	if (j <= b)
	{
		for (j < b; j++;)
		{
			ans = ans + a;
		}

	}
	Serial.print("The product is ");
	Serial.println(ans);
	delay(1000);
}
 

I actually tried doing that first, and I was still getting 0. Maybe I'm missing something in VS settings?

I have corrected your code and posted it here. When you tested using the Arduino IDE you will have been using slightly different code because the code you posted was not valid.

/*
 Name:		one.ino
 Created:	3/2/2021 12:09:54 AM
 Author:	Rashidat
*/
#include <SoftwareSerial.h>
#include <stdio.h>
// the setup function runs once when you press reset or power the board
float a, ans;
int b, j;

void setup() {
	while(!Serial)
	{ }

	Serial.begin(9600);
}

// the loop function runs over and over again until power down or reset
void loop() {

	Serial.println("What is a?");

	while (Serial.available() == 0) {};

	a = Serial.parseFloat();

	Serial.println("a: ");
	Serial.println(a);

	Serial.println("What is b?");

	while (Serial.available() == 0) {};

	b = Serial.parseInt();

	Serial.println("b: ");
	Serial.println(b);

	int ans = 0;
	int j = 0;
	if (j <= b)
	{
		Serial.println("j is less than b");

		for (j;j < b; j++)
		{
			ans = ans + a;
		}

	}

	Serial.print("The product is ");
	Serial.println(ans);
	delay(1000);
} 

tip: Your code does not use the SoftwareSerial library, that include is not required but is doing no harm.