Line of diamonds problem

[swgh]

Hiya I am trying to make a line of diamunds appear across the screen to whatever the user enters under the value of eight.

It compiles fine but they keep arreaing down the screen and not across it. I was wondering is my function call the problem?

#include <stdio.h>

/*function prototype*/
void printDiamond ( void );

/*main function - begins program execution -----------------------------------*/
int main ( void )
{
   int counter;
   int amount;

   printf("How many diamonds: ");
   scanf("%d", &amount);

   while ( amount > 8 )
   {
      puts("\nI cannot print more than eight diamonds!\n");
      printf("Please re-enter amount: ");
      scanf("%d", &amount);
   }

   for ( counter = 1; counter <= amount; counter++ )
   {
      printDiamond();
      printf("\n\n");
   }

   getch(); /*freeze console output window*/

   return 0; /*return value from int main*/
}

/*function to print a diamond shape*/
void printDiamond ( void )
{
   printf(" *\n***\n *");
}

[vart]

Do you want to print something like:

 *  *
******
 *  *

Then - see what is in the first line - you cannot finish printing 1 diamond and start another - you should do all of them at the same time...

[swgh]

Thanks Vart

[Adak]

There's nothing wrong with this logic:

for (counter = 1; counter <= amount; counter++ )
   ...

But it's not the idiom that I think you should get comfortable with in C. This is the idiom of choice:

for (counter = 0; counter < amount; counter++)
  ...

Which has the advantage of being automatically right to handle 0 based arrays, AND making it more certain that the double char operator "<=" won't wind up causing a bug because you forgot the = char, or you've overrun the upper limit of your array.

For a C programmer, I would strongly recommend branding the red example, deep into your consciousness and your heart - if not your very soul. Know it in your sleep, dream it in your dreams, use it in your code.