Better sqaure?

I have created a function that draws a square based on user input.
Is there a better way or any ways I can make the code smaller but still work as
efficently?

Code:

---

#include <iostream>

using std::cout;
using std::endl;
using std::cin;

// function prototype
int draw ( int );

// main function - driver //////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//
int main ( void )
{
  int n;
 
  cout << "Enter a side value: ";
  cin >> n;
 
  draw ( n );
 
  cin.get();  // freeze console window
  cin.ignore();
       
  return 0;  // indicate program ended sucsessfuly
}

// function draws a square
int draw ( int n )
{
  int counter = 0;
 
  do // makes sure the hieght is correct
  {
      for ( int i = 1; i <= n; i++ ) // deals with length
      {
        cout << "*";
      }
     
      cout << "\n";
     
      counter++;
     
     
  } while ( counter < n );
 
  return n;
}

---

maybe you can, but I don't think it will make the program significantly faster... at least not to a level where you can see the difference...

but if you are really eager on making it faster, go

Code:

---

gcc -S source.c

---

if you are using gcc, and in the current directory, there should be a file called source.s ....
learn a bit of assembly, and you may be able to improve it

here's how it looks

Code:

---

        .file  "test.c"
        .section        .rodata
.LC0:
        .string "%d"
        .text
.globl main
        .type  main, @function
main:
        pushl  %ebp
        movl    %esp, %ebp
        subl    $24, %esp
        andl    $-16, %esp
        movl    $0, %eax
        addl    $15, %eax
        addl    $15, %eax
        shrl    $4, %eax
        sall    $4, %eax
        subl    %eax, %esp
        subl    $8, %esp
        leal    -12(%ebp), %eax
        pushl  %eax
        pushl  $.LC0
        call    scanf
        addl    $16, %esp
        movl    $0, -8(%ebp)
        movl    $0, -4(%ebp)
        jmp    .L2
.L5:
        subl    $12, %esp
        pushl  $42
        call    putchar
        addl    $16, %esp
        leal    -4(%ebp), %eax
        incl    (%eax)
.L4:
        movl    -12(%ebp), %eax
        cmpl    %eax, -4(%ebp)
        jl      .L5
        subl    $12, %esp
        pushl  $10
        call    putchar
        addl    $16, %esp
        movl    $0, -4(%ebp)
.L2:
        movl    -12(%ebp), %eax
        cmpl    %eax, -8(%ebp)
        setl    %dl
        leal    -8(%ebp), %eax
        incl    (%eax)
        testb  %dl, %dl
        jne    .L4
        movl    $0, %eax
        leave
        ret
        .size  main, .-main
        .ident  "GCC: (GNU) 4.0.3 20051201 (prerelease) (Debian 4.0.2-5)"
        .section        .note.GNU-stack,"",@progbits

---

Thanks for the reply, I think I will give that a shot

Could do something like this:

Code:

---

#include <string>

// [...]

void square( int num )
{
        std::string row( num, '*' );

        for ( int i=0; i<num; i++ )
                std::cout<< row << '\n';
}

---

don't forget to

That would probably be less efficient, because of the overhead of creating a string class.

Code:

---

void print_square(int size) {
    for(int y = 0; y < size; y ++) {
        for(int x = 0; x < size; x ++) {
            cout << '*';
        }
        cout << endl;
    }
}

---

I don't see how printing a square in the manner you have done would slow your program down unless you're using a really slow computer. It's likely to be the screen itself that's causing any delay that you can see; if you want to avoid this, try ANSI escape sequences or ncurses.

[edit]

Quote:

---

don't forget to

---

Don't forget to end the "don't forget to" sentence! :) [/edit]

I've forgotten ... I think I should leave it there until I remember. I didn't read the 'and more efficient' part. Just the part with shorter code.

I'll test it when I get home to see which is quicker.

You probably won't be able to measure the speed differences between those programs. 0 ms and 0 ms. It would be better to look at the generated assembly code and compare them (by length, if you don't know assembly). Add the -S option to GCC.

Whoops,

using

Code:

---

void square( int num )
{
        std::string row( num, '*' );

        for ( int i=0; i<num; i++ )
                std::cout<< row << '\n';
}

void print_square(int size) {
    for(int y = 0; y < size; y ++) {
        for(int x = 0; x < size; x ++) {
                        std::cout << '*';
        }
                std::cout << '\n'; // changed from endl to '\n' for testin'
    }
}

int main( void )
{
        double dwks_square, twomers_square;

        TimeIt t;

        t.StartTimer();
        for ( int i=0; i<1000; i++ )
                print_square( 10 );
        t.EndTimer();

        dwks_square = t.GetTime();

       
        t.StartTimer();
        for ( int i=0; i<1000; i++ )
                square( 10 );
        t.EndTimer();
       
        twomers_square = t.GetTime();

        std::cout<< "dwks average: " << dwks_square/1000 << '\n';
        std::cout<< "twomers average: " << twomers_square/1000 << '\n';

        return 0;
}

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with http://cboard.cprogramming.com/showp...4&postcount=10, they're both (dwks' and my functions) very close in speed. ~0.00001 seconds different in one test.