Thread: Reducing loops

Please read this then edit your post accordingly.

Here's the first for loop rewritten to not use internal loops. See what you make of it and if you can apply its logic to the second loop.

Code:

for ( i = 0, k = 1; i < height; i++, k += 2)
{
  j = height-i-1;
  printf ("%*.s", j, " ");
  /* This next line limits the height of the triangle based on the
   * number of *'s in the string.
   *  Therefore, it is not as flexible as a loop
   */
  printf ("%.*s", k, "****************************************");
  putchar('\n');
}

Here's an idea:

Code:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>

int main( void )
{
	char *line = NULL;
	int linesize, size, front, back;

	printf("Enter the size of the pyramid: ");
	if( scanf("%d",&size) != 1 )
	{
	    printf("You suck, go away.\n");
		exit( 0 );
	}

	linesize = size * 2 + 1;
	if( (line = malloc( sizeof( char ) * linesize )) == NULL )
	{
		printf("Your computer sucks, go away.\n");
		exit( 0 );
	}

	memset( line, ' ', linesize );
	line[linesize-1] = '\0';

	for( front = back = size; size > 0; size--, front--, back++)
	{
		line[back] = line[front] = '*';
		printf("%s\n", line );
	}
	free( line );
	getchar( );
	return 0;
}

Don't turn this in for homework please. I figured it's be an amusing work around. Enjoy.

[edit]You don't actually need the 'front' line here. You could just use size.[/edit]

Quzah.