pyramid of numbers

Let me look a bit more to a thread, so I could just basically repeat what you have been told already (might will rephrase my way). Few minutes...

import java.lang.reflect.Array; import java.util.Arrays; import java.util.Scanner; public class PyramidSortedNumber { public static void main(String[] args) { Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in); String input = scanner.nextLine(); int integerArray[] = new int[input.length()]; System.out.println("integerArray is " + Arrays.toString(integerArray)); String inputStringArray[] = input.split(""); System.out.println("Splitted the String up into an array that has 1 element per character in the String " + Arrays.toString(inputStringArray)); for (int i = 0; i < inputStringArray.length; i++) { integerArray[i] = Integer.parseInt(inputStringArray[i]); } System.out.println("integerArray before sorting" + Arrays.toString(integerArray)); Arrays.sort(integerArray); System.out.println("integerArray after sorting" + Arrays.toString(integerArray)); int rowEndPosition = 1; int noOfRows = inputStringArray.length; for (int i = noOfRows; i > 0; i--) { for (int j = 0; j < i; j++) { System.out.print(" "); } for (int j = 0; j < rowEndPosition; j++) { System.out.print(integerArray[i-1]+" "); } System.out.println(); rowEndPosition++; } } }

above gave reverse sorted but space issues also resolved
4517
integerArray is [0, 0, 0, 0]
Splitted the String up into an array that has 1 element per character in the String [4, 5, 1, 7]
integerArray before sorting[4, 5, 1, 7]
integerArray after sorting[1, 4, 5, 7]
   7
  5 5
 4 4 4
1 1 1 1

But i want to get output like below instead?


   1
  4 4
 5 5 5
7 7 7 7


how to get it? please advise

I know my approach is bit hapazard. I need to write the below things
1. high level approach
2. next granular level approach till i can code
3. put proper method names and variable names
4. write the psuedo code
5. write actual code in editor or IDE

sai rama krishna wrote:I need to write the below things

Cool, it seems you understood, we are waiting your re-written solution, so we could take it from there.

This is one of reason why i took about one months for this challenge which according to experts like you takes 15 minutes which is what i am also aiming at

import java.lang.reflect.Array; import java.util.Arrays; import java.util.Scanner; public class PyramidSortedNumber { public static void main(String[] args) { Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in); String input = scanner.nextLine(); int integerArray[] = new int[input.length()]; System.out.println("integerArray is " + Arrays.toString(integerArray)); String inputStringArray[] = input.split(""); System.out.println("Splitted the String up into an array that has 1 element per character in the String " + Arrays.toString(inputStringArray)); for (int i = 0; i < inputStringArray.length; i++) { integerArray[i] = Integer.parseInt(inputStringArray[i]); } System.out.println("integerArray before sorting" + Arrays.toString(integerArray)); Arrays.sort(integerArray); System.out.println("integerArray after sorting" + Arrays.toString(integerArray)); int rowEndPosition = 1; int noOfRows = inputStringArray.length; for (int i = noOfRows; i > 0; i--) { for (int j = 0; j < i; j++) { System.out.print(" "); } for (int j = 0; j < rowEndPosition; j++) { System.out.print(integerArray[j]+" "); } System.out.println(); rowEndPosition++; } } }

when i take in last for loop j instead of i-1

i got below output
359
integerArray is [0, 0, 0]
Splitted the String up into an array that has 1 element per character in the String [3, 5, 9]
integerArray before sorting[3, 5, 9]
integerArray after sorting[3, 5, 9]
  3
 3 5
3 5 9


how to optimize my code to eliminate 4 for loops etc

I was following Junilu's advices step by step and got solution. Have you got yours?

yes. it was helpful to see all above great comments which pointed me and lead in right direction



one question pending is

But i want to get output like below instead?


   1
  4 4
 5 5 5
8  8 8 8
9 ...........etc



as of now i am getting like

     9
   8 8
  5 5 5
 4 4 4 4
1 1 1 1 1

do i need to change my approach from string array to some other colection object which sorts in ascending order rather than descending? please advise

sai rama krishna wrote:do i need to change my approach

Yes, you said that already

sai rama krishna half an hour ago wrote:I know my approach is bit hapazard. I need to write the below things
1. high level approach
2. next granular level approach till i can code
3. put proper method names and variable names
4. write the psuedo code
5. write actual code in editor or IDE

In the solution supposed to be around 8 your defined methods (names can differ):

1. main
2. printAsTriangle
3. getUserNumbers
4. sortNumbers
5. printNumbers
6. printLine
7 printSpaces
8 printElements

main() {    printAsTriangle( getUserNumbers() ) } getUserNumbers() {    // implement } printAsTriangle(parameter A) {    sortNumbers(A)    printNumbers(A) } sortNumbers(parameter A) {    // implement } printNumbers(parameter A) {    Loop...        printLine(A, ...)        goToNextLine() } printLine(parameter A, ...) {    printSpaces(...)    printElements(...) } printElements(parameter A, ...) {    Loop... }

import java.lang.reflect.Array; import java.util.Arrays; import java.util.Scanner; public class PyramidOfSortedNumbers { public static void main(String[] arg) { printAsTriangle(getUserNumbers()); } private static int[] getUserNumbers() { Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in); String input = scanner.nextLine(); int integerArray[] = new int[input.length()]; System.out.println("integerArray is " + Arrays.toString(integerArray)); String inputStringArray[] = input.split(""); for (int i = 0; i < inputStringArray.length; i++) { integerArray[i] = Integer.parseInt(inputStringArray[i]); } System.out.println("integerArray before sorting..." + Arrays.toString(integerArray)); return integerArray; } static void printAsTriangle(int[] is) { sortNumbers(is); printNumbers(is); } static void sortNumbers(int[] is) { Arrays.sort(is); } static void printNumbers(int[] is) { // Loop... printLine(is); goToNextLine(is); } private static void goToNextLine(int[] is) { // TODO Auto-generated method stub } static void printLine(int[] isis) { printSpaces(isis); printElements(isis); } private static void printSpaces(int[] isis) { int noOfRows = isis.length; for (int i = noOfRows; i > 0; i--) { for (int j = 0; j < i; j++) { System.out.print(" "); } } } static void printElements(int[] isis) { int noOfRows = isis.length; int rowEndPosition = 1; for (int i = noOfRows; i > 0; i--) { for (int j = 0; j < rowEndPosition; j++) { System.out.print(isis[i - 1] + " "); } } } }

got below output

213
integerArray is [0, 0, 0]
integerArray before sorting...[2, 1, 3]
     3 2 1


need to modify somethings

sai rama krishna wrote:need to modify somethings

Don't modify anything at the moment. What you need to do, is to THINK, and do it for a while. No one sits down and writes code right away. Once you start your first attempt, at least you should have a solid confidence on what you are going to write, as a result you should be accurate with your very first attempt, or very close to, which is not a case in your case, as you may noticed already. Do you see a problem? You're almost guessing. Yesterday I was solving this exercise too, and what do you think, I just started writing code? Nope, I took a piece of paper (I have a lot in my drawer under the table) and solved it on it first, so it looked ok, then I wrote the code in my IDE to ensure it is indeed ok - it wasn't, so i went back to paper to find where I did mistake, next attempt did work as expected. If you are guessing there is a small chances you'll get it right any time soon.

Liutauras Vilda wrote:. . . No one sits down and writes code right away. . . .

Oh, yes, they do. (You can tell what time of year it is, can't you ‍).
You can recognise people who write code straight away by their hair (all torn out), their fingernails (bitten off) and their coffee (all spilt). Then they come here and try guessing how to change their code.
Liutauras is correct. You start with pencil and paper, like the student I was helping face to face last night (but I told him to sign up on Coderanch). You also need an eraser, because you will have to destroy the evidence change the algorithm slightly when you find out what works.

I just started reading what's shaping up to be a really good book. It's called Think Like a Programmer: An Introduction to Creative Problem Solving by V. Anton Spraul.

Here's his first problem solving strategy:

V. Anton Spraul wrote:This is perhaps the most important rule. You must always have a plan, rather than engaging in directionless activity.

I can't believe I haven't heard about this book before. It's exactly the kind of thing many students and their teachers need to read.

System.out.print("* ");
So at this point, you just need to replace "*" with a number.
Please ignore, I missed a whole page of responses.

import java.lang.reflect.Array; import java.util.Arrays; import java.util.Scanner; public class PyramidOfSortedNumbers { public static void main(String[] arg) { printAsTriangle(getUserNumbers()); } private static int[] getUserNumbers() { Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in); String input = scanner.nextLine(); int integerArray[] = new int[input.length()]; System.out.println("integerArray is " + Arrays.toString(integerArray)); String inputStringArray[] = input.split(""); for (int i = 0; i < inputStringArray.length; i++) { integerArray[i] = Integer.parseInt(inputStringArray[i]); } System.out.println("integerArray before sorting..." + Arrays.toString(integerArray)); return integerArray; } static void printAsTriangle(int[] is) { sortNumbers(is); printNumbers(is); } static void sortNumbers(int[] is) { Arrays.sort(is); } static void printNumbers(int[] is) { // Loop... printLine(is); goToNextLine(is); } private static void goToNextLine(int[] is) { // TODO Auto-generated method stub } static void printLine(int[] isis) { printSpaces(isis); printElements(isis); } private static void printSpaces(int[] isis) { int noOfRows = isis.length; for (int i = noOfRows; i > 0; i--) { for (int j = 0; j < i; j++) { System.out.print(" "); } } } static void printElements(int[] isis) { int noOfRows = isis.length; int rowEndPosition = 1; for (int i = noOfRows; i > 0; i--) { for (int j = 0; j < rowEndPosition; j++) { System.out.print(isis[i - 1] + " "); } } } }

i am filling the methods as above

what helped me in solving pyramid of stars and eventually this challenge is dry erase board and dry marker with eraser on top of it. But some times carrying that outside home may not look professional rather carry a book pencil and eraser in the laptop bag.

sai rama krishna wrote:i am filling the methods as above

Alright, so now you know which parts doesn't work for you, and which methods are responsible for that, right?

All where you need to work in (if need) are two methods: printSpaces() and printElements() as these doesn't produce expected output.

Relax about this one below, you just need to add println statement to it
private static void goToNextLine() {        // TODO Auto-generated method stub }

sure. I will try to tweak those two methods to get desired output.

printAsTriangle(getUserNumbers());

what surprised me is above method call(printAsTriangle) which takes other method call(getUserNumbers()) as parameter.

Usually we do not see that scenario right where one method call take other method call as parameter?

i am looking for good sites, books, resources to make me good at hands on java coding.

I just found below link with assignments, exercises.
https://programmingbydoing.com/

please advise any other good similar resources to improve my hands on coding skills so that i can eventually do these kind of exercises in 15 minutes like you experts with all clean healthy variable, method names etc

sai rama krishna wrote:Usually we do not see that scenario right where one method call take other method call as parameter?

Yes and No. Probably for the beginning, for the sake of clarity, you can and maybe even you should write:

int[] userNumbers = getUserNumbers(); printAsTriangle(userNumbers);It is more readable actually and more flexible, as in case you'd need to use userNumbers somewhere else, you wouldn't need to call that method once again.

   static void printNumbers(int[] is) {        // Loop...        printLine(is);        goToNextLine(is);    }
Where's your loop?

printLine( is, row ) // and let printLine figure out the int.

In my mind i was thinking i was able solve this challenge in 25 lines of code within in main method itself rather than introducing new 5 to 10 new methods but apparently writing all in main with 25 simple lines is not good idea in terms of readability to others or even to me later stages?

sai rama krishna wrote:In my mind i was thinking i was able solve this challenge in 25 lines of code within in main method itself rather than introducing new 5 to 10 new methods but apparently writing all in main with 25 simple lines is not good idea in terms of readability to others or even to me later stages?

Never judge the code by its length, nor think shorter - better. Judge by readability, how quickly you can find the things in the code which are responsible for particular tasks. Your code will need to be read by others, and when you write your code in a main method, no one can understand it - except you, not for long too as it gets forgotten when time gets passed.

Always concentrate on clarity - and when there is just a beginning for you, I'd say - more methods better. Most important thing is - that singular method would do that one thing what it says only.

printAsTriangle it should print numbers as triangle, no more no less.
goToNextLine needs to do what it says, just simply go to next line.
printLine too, it is a bit abstract, but then again, you digging down and you see specifics, sub-parts of this task, not the other different task, but sub-task, it is important.

And always try follow such approach and you'll notice how much easier is to cope with complexity, because at a given time you need to concentrate on a tiny piece of work.

Liutauras Vilda wrote:Yes and No. Probably for the beginning, for the sake of clarity, you can and maybe even you should write:
int[] userNumbers = getUserNumbers(); printAsTriangle(userNumbers);It is more readable actually and more flexible, as in case you'd need to use userNumbers somewhere else, you wouldn't need to call that method once again.

Well, yes and no.

As Andy Hunt wrote, "Rule #2: Always consider context."

Here's the context:
main() {    printAsTriangle( getUserNumbers() ) }
There is nothing that's too surprising about this.  The method printAsTriangle() is NOT taking another method call, it's still taking an int[] because that is what the method getUserNumbers() returns. You are simply getting rid of an unnecessary temporary variable like int[] userNumbers.

In this context, the temporary variable userNumbers adds no value. It is not used by anything else and its name does not tell you anything more than what the method name getUserNumbers() already does.

Refer to these two symmetrically opposite refactorings and understand the contexts in which they are applied:

Inline Temp - http://refactoring.com/catalog/inlineTemp.html

Extract Variable - http://refactoring.com/catalog/extractVariable.html

import java.lang.reflect.Array; import java.util.Arrays; import java.util.Scanner; public class PyramidOfSortedNumbers { public static void main(String[] arg) { int[] userNumbers = getUserNumbers(); printAsTriangle(userNumbers); printAsTriangle(getUserNumbers()); } private static int[] getUserNumbers() { Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in); String input = scanner.nextLine(); int integerArray[] = new int[input.length()]; System.out.println("integerArray is " + Arrays.toString(integerArray)); String inputStringArray[] = input.split(""); for (int i = 0; i < inputStringArray.length; i++) { integerArray[i] = Integer.parseInt(inputStringArray[i]); } System.out.println("integerArray before sorting..." + Arrays.toString(integerArray)); return integerArray; } static void printAsTriangle(int[] is) { sortNumbers(is); printNumbers(is); } static void sortNumbers(int[] is) { Arrays.sort(is); } static void printNumbers(int[] is) { // Loop... printLine(is); goToNextLine(is); } private static void goToNextLine(int[] is) { // TODO Auto-generated method stub } static void printLine(int[] isis) { printSpaces(isis); printElements(isis); } private static void printSpaces(int[] isis) { int noOfRows = isis.length; int rowEndPosition = 1; System.out.println("noOfRows value in printSpaces--->"+noOfRows); for (int i = noOfRows; i > 0; i--) { for (int j = 0; j < i; j++) { System.out.print(" "); } rowEndPosition++; } } static void printElements(int[] isis) { int noOfRows = isis.length; int rowEndPosition = 1; System.out.println("noOfRows value is printElements--->"+noOfRows); for (int i = noOfRows; i > 0; i--) { for (int j = 0; j < rowEndPosition; j++) { System.out.print(isis[i - 1] + " "); } rowEndPosition++; } } }

as above i modified and came close but all printing in same line

312
integerArray is [0, 0, 0]
integerArray before sorting...[3, 1, 2]
noOfRows value in printSpaces--->3
     noOfRows value is printElements--->3
3 2 2 1 1 1

Not sure why you'd expect anything different. You haven't yet implemented lines 37 and 43.

In your
private static void printSpaces(int[] isis) {method you are trying to do too much. Perhaps if you renamed it to
private static void printLeadingSpacesForOneRow( int[] userNumbers, int row ) {you'd see that you veered off into the weeds.

sai rama krishna wrote:In my mind i was thinking i was able solve this challenge in 25 lines of code within in main method itself rather than introducing new 5 to 10 new methods but apparently writing all in main with 25 simple lines is not good idea in terms of readability to others or even to me later stages?

Look where it got you. This thread should have no more than 10 posts long. Instead it's well past 50 posts.

If you had instead attacked this problem in a systematic way, breaking the problem down into increasingly smaller chunks like we showed you, you could have been done with this many, many hours ago. Instead, here we still are.  

Your gauge should be how long your methods are, not how long your entire program is.  

Kent Beck, the co-creator of JUnit, author, speaker, and pioneer of Extreme Programming, is reported to write most methods in his programs with only 1 to 3 lines of code. This means he writes many, many methods to accomplish any significantly large task. That's the level of brevity and clarity that you should aspire to. SHORT, SIMPLE, and CORRECT is the goal, not SHORT but SUPER-CONVOLUTED and WRONG.

import java.lang.reflect.Array; import java.util.Arrays; import java.util.Scanner; public class PyramidOfSortedNumbers { public static void main(String[] arg) { int[] userNumbers = getUserNumbers(); printAsTriangle(userNumbers); printAsTriangle(getUserNumbers()); } private static int[] getUserNumbers() { Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in); String input = scanner.nextLine(); int integerArray[] = new int[input.length()]; System.out.println("integerArray is " + Arrays.toString(integerArray)); String inputStringArray[] = input.split(""); for (int i = 0; i < inputStringArray.length; i++) { integerArray[i] = Integer.parseInt(inputStringArray[i]); } System.out.println("integerArray before sorting..." + Arrays.toString(integerArray)); return integerArray; } static void printAsTriangle(int[] is) { sortNumbers(is); printNumbers(is); } static void sortNumbers(int[] is) { Arrays.sort(is); } static void printNumbers(int[] is) { // Loop... printLine(is); goToNextLine(is); } private static void goToNextLine(int[] is) { // TODO Auto-generated method stub } static void printLine(int[] isis) { printSpaces(isis); printElements(isis); } private static void printSpaces(int[] isis) { int noOfRows = isis.length; int rowEndPosition = 1; System.out.println("noOfRows value in printSpaces--->"+noOfRows); for (int i = noOfRows; i > 0; i--) { for (int j = 0; j < i; j++) { System.out.print(" "); } System.out.println(); rowEndPosition++; } } static void printElements(int[] isis) { int noOfRows = isis.length; int rowEndPosition = 1; System.out.println("noOfRows value is printElements--->"+noOfRows); for (int i = noOfRows; i > 0; i--) { for (int j = 0; j < rowEndPosition; j++) { System.out.print(isis[i - 1] + " "); } System.out.println(); rowEndPosition++; } } }

above kind of messed up spaces


521
integerArray is [0, 0, 0]
integerArray before sorting...[5, 2, 1]
noOfRows value in printSpaces--->3
 
 

noOfRows value is printElements--->3
5
2 2
1 1 1



issue here is pyramid of stars has 2 for loops within one for loop and at the end of two for loops we are doing sysout(with line feed) and the incrementing rowEndPosition as below to set stage for next row to start character after printing the spaces

  System.out.println();
           rowEndPosition++;

here since we separated to two separate methods those above 2 lines of common code is in the air. not sure where it belongs may be one or two or none of the two methods?

I'm not looking at the moment to your code, but what I could conclude by looking to this your example:
noOfRows value is printElements--->3
5 2 2 1 1 1So you see, that you got amount of elements per row correct. 1st line - 1 element, 2nd line -2 elements...
What else you can see? That all lines are printed without any leading spaces. So, looking visually to this figure, for the first line you need to add 2 spaces, right? For the second line 1 space, and for the third - none. Can you have a look to loop and see if you could somehow workout needed amount of spaces per iteration out of loop counter?

By the way, stop printing those before sorting, after sorting.. these are irrelevant here, as values of numbers aren't taken into account.

Liutauras Vilda wrote:So, looking visually to this figure, for the first line you need to add 2 spaces, right? For the second line 1 space, and for the third - none. Can you have a look to loop and see if you could somehow workout needed amount of spaces per iteration out of loop counter?

Good that you took only 3 numbers array, that way is easier to see the key here.

So, during the first iteration you need to print 2 spaces, second iteration 1 space, third iteration none. Is it somehow related with array's length?

not able to align digit next to space as both are from different method calls??
import java.lang.reflect.Array; import java.util.Arrays; import java.util.Scanner; public class PyramidOfSortedNumbers { public static void main(String[] arg) { int[] userNumbers = getUserNumbers(); printAsTriangle(userNumbers); printAsTriangle(getUserNumbers()); } private static int[] getUserNumbers() { Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in); String input = scanner.nextLine(); int integerArray[] = new int[input.length()]; System.out.println("integerArray is " + Arrays.toString(integerArray)); String inputStringArray[] = input.split(""); for (int i = 0; i < inputStringArray.length; i++) { integerArray[i] = Integer.parseInt(inputStringArray[i]); } System.out.println("integerArray before sorting..." + Arrays.toString(integerArray)); return integerArray; } static void printAsTriangle(int[] is) { sortNumbers(is); printNumbers(is); } static void sortNumbers(int[] is) { Arrays.sort(is); } static void printNumbers(int[] is) { // Loop... printLine(is); goToNextLine(is); } private static void goToNextLine(int[] is) { // TODO Auto-generated method stub } static void printLine(int[] isis) { printSpaces(isis); printElements(isis); } private static void printSpaces(int[] isis) { int noOfRows = isis.length; int rowEndPosition = 1; System.out.println("noOfRows value in printSpaces--->"+noOfRows); for (int i = noOfRows; i > 0; i--) { for (int j = 0; j < i; j++) { System.out.print(" "); } //System.out.println(); //rowEndPosition++; } } static void printElements(int[] isis) { int noOfRows = isis.length; int rowEndPosition = 1; System.out.println("noOfRows value is printElements--->"+noOfRows); for (int i = noOfRows; i > 0; i--) { for (int j = 0; j < rowEndPosition; j++) { System.out.print(isis[i - 1] + " "); } System.out.println(); rowEndPosition++; } } }


313
integerArray is [0, 0, 0]
integerArray before sorting...[3, 1, 3]
noOfRows value in printSpaces--->3
     noOfRows value is printElements--->3
3
3 3
1 1 1

space is not coming correct before digit

sai rama krishna wrote:space is not coming correct before digit

Follow each line of the code as if you are the computer, it should be pretty obvious why you are not getting any leading spaces.

(Hmmmm, guess what, you haven't followed any of my previous suggestions. I'm done here.)

If you are struggling with this, print out the code and mark/highlight each line as you "execute" it in your mind.

Learning to code also involves learning to debug.

To see what's happening with your spaces replace
" "
with
"."

Post Yesterday 4:15:26 PM     Subject: pyramid of numbers
To see what's happening with your spaces replace
" "
with
"."

import java.lang.reflect.Array; import java.util.Arrays; import java.util.Scanner; public class PyramidOfSortedNumbers { public static void main(String[] arg) { int[] userNumbers = getUserNumbers(); printAsTriangle(userNumbers); printAsTriangle(getUserNumbers()); } private static int[] getUserNumbers() { Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in); String input = scanner.nextLine(); int integerArray[] = new int[input.length()]; System.out.println("integerArray is " + Arrays.toString(integerArray)); String inputStringArray[] = input.split(""); for (int i = 0; i < inputStringArray.length; i++) { integerArray[i] = Integer.parseInt(inputStringArray[i]); } System.out.println("integerArray before sorting..." + Arrays.toString(integerArray)); return integerArray; } static void printAsTriangle(int[] is) { sortNumbers(is); printNumbers(is); } static void sortNumbers(int[] is) { Arrays.sort(is); } static void printNumbers(int[] is) { // Loop... printLine(is); goToNextLine(is); } private static void goToNextLine(int[] is) { // TODO Auto-generated method stub } static void printLine(int[] isis) { printSpaces(isis); printElements(isis); } private static void printSpaces(int[] isis) { int noOfRows = isis.length; int rowEndPosition = 1; System.out.println("noOfRows value in printSpaces--->"+noOfRows); for (int i = noOfRows; i > 0; i--) { for (int j = 0; j < i; j++) { System.out.print("."); } //System.out.println(); //rowEndPosition++; } } static void printElements(int[] isis) { int noOfRows = isis.length; int rowEndPosition = 1; System.out.println("noOfRows value is printElements--->"+noOfRows); for (int i = noOfRows; i > 0; i--) { for (int j = 0; j < rowEndPosition; j++) { System.out.print(isis[i - 1] + " "); } System.out.println(); rowEndPosition++; } } }
spaces are prepending at wrong location as below

312
integerArray is [0, 0, 0]
integerArray before sorting...[3, 1, 2]
noOfRows value in printSpaces--->3
......noOfRows value is printElements--->3
3
2 2
1 1 1