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9

Recreate '99 bottles of beers on the wall'.

The desired output is this:

99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer.
Take one down and pass it around, 98 bottles of beer on the wall.

98 bottles of beer on the wall, 98 bottles of beer.
Take one down and pass it around, 97 bottles of beer on the wall.

97 bottles of beer on the wall, 97 bottles of beer.
Take one down and pass it around, 96 bottles of beer on the wall.

96 bottles of beer on the wall, 96 bottles of beer.
Take one down and pass it around, 95 bottles of beer on the wall.

95 bottles of beer on the wall, 95 bottles of beer.
Take one down and pass it around, 94 bottles of beer on the wall.

....

3 bottles of beer on the wall, 3 bottles of beer.
Take one down and pass it around, 2 bottles of beer on the wall.

2 bottles of beer on the wall, 2 bottles of beer.
Take one down and pass it around, 1 bottle of beer on the wall.

1 bottle of beer on the wall, 1 bottle of beer.
Go to the store and buy some more, 99 bottles of beer on the wall.

Show me how you would solve this with your favorite programming language. Most creative use of a language wins.

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17  
"Most creative use" is too subjective for an SE site, I think. We should aim to use objective criteria, such as "shortest code". – Chris Jester-Young♦ Jan 27 '11 at 21:04
4  
Still a good question though – SimpleCoder Jan 27 '11 at 21:06
1  
Is it supposed to run infinitely? I assumed so. Also codegolf doesn't own 99 bottles of beer so there is not reason to even discuss it. – Mike Bethany Jan 28 '11 at 8:04
1  
@Chris -- That is going to be the toughest part of this SE site, because the whole thing is based on creativity, because that is half the fun of programming puzzles. The most creative solution isn't always the most efficient or shortest. – Nick Berardi Jan 28 '11 at 14:13
2  
@Nick: I hear you. I just want to know how one can determine how creative a solution is---based on your own judgement? Based on the voters'? Neither is particularly reliable (no offence). Something like brevity is indisputable---for example, nobody can dispute the "goodness" of the 1-byte stack overflow code golf solution. – Chris Jester-Young♦ Jan 28 '11 at 14:26
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80 Answers

1 2 3
up vote 0 down vote

C# (271 Characters)

class P{static void Main(){string b=" bottle",w=" on the wall",o=" of beer",p=".\n",z;for(int i=99;i>0;)System.Console.Write((z=i+b+(i>1?"s":"")+o)+w+", "+z+p+(i-->1?"Take one down and pass it around, "+i:"Go to the store and buy some more, 99")+b+(i>1?"s":"")+o+w+p);}}
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Delphi (349)

program B;{$APPTYPE CONSOLE}const c=' of beer on the wall';d:array[Boolean]of string=(' bottles', ' bottle');var i:Byte;begin for i:=99downto 1do begin WriteLn(i,d[i=1],c,', ',i,d[i=1],' of beer.');if i>1then WriteLn('Take one down and pass it around, ',i-1,d[i<3],c,'.'#13#10)else Write('Go to the store and buy some more, 99',d[1=2],c,'.')end;end.
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Python 3 (not really golfed, just a bit creative)

b=lambda n:'%d bottl%s of beer'%(n,n>1and'es'or'e')
any(map(print,(((2*'%s, %s on the wall, %s.\n')[4:42]+'.\n')%(2*(b(i),)+(i>1and('Take one down and pass it around',b(i-1))or('Go to the store and buy some more',b(99))))for i in range(99,0,-1))))
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up vote 0 down vote

PHP 132 chars =]

    $e='bottles of beer';$x='on the wall';$i=100;while($i>0)echo"$i $e $x, $i $e.
Take one down and pass it around,  ".--$i." $e $x.

";
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C# - 324

using System;class b{ static void Main(){for(int i=99;i>1;i--){Console.WriteLine("{0} bottles of beer on the wall, {0} bottles of beer,\n"+"take one down, pass it around...\n", i);}Console.WriteLine("1 bottle of beer on the wall, 1 bottle of beer,\n"+"go to the store and buy some more, 99 bottles of beer on the wall!");}}
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C# - 304 significant characters.

Left this way to make it a little bit more readable, but it is 304 when all non-essential whitespace is removed.

string[] s = { "{0} {2}{3} {5}{6}, {0} {2}{3} {5}.\n", 
               "Take one down, pass it around, {1} {2}{4} {5}{6}.\n", 
               "Go to the store and buy some more, 99 {2}{4} {5}{6}." };
Func<int, string> t = e => e !=1 ? "s" : "" ;
for (int i = 99; i > 0; i--)
    Console.WriteLine(
         s[0] + s[i > 1 ? 1 : 2], 
         i, i - 1, 
         "bottle", t(i), t(i-1), "of beer", " on the wall");
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up vote 0 down vote

PYTHON

for x in xrange(99,0,-1):
    print('.\n\n'.join(('%(b)s on the wall',)*(2-x/99))+', %(b)s.\n%(c)s')%{'b':'%s bottle%s of beer'%(x,x-1 and's'or ''),'c':('Take one down, pass it around,','Go to the store and buy some more, 99 bottles of beer on the wall.')[(100-x)/99]},
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up vote 0 down vote

My PHP implementation:

<?php
$i = 99;
$s = '{i} bottles of beer on the wall';
$r = 'Take one down and pass it around';
$f = 'Go to the store and buy some more';

while($i > 0) 
{    
    $sub = array('{i}' => &$i);

    if($i == 1)
        $sub['bottles'] = 'bottle';

    $sen = strtr($s, $sub);
    echo $sen, ', ', substr($sen, 0, strpos($sen, 'on')), PHP_EOL;

    if($i == 1)
        break;

    $i--;
    $sen = strtr($s, $sub);
    echo $r, ', ', $sen, PHP_EOL, PHP_EOL;
}    

$i = 99;
$sub = array('{i}' => $i); 
$sen = strtr($s, $sub);
echo $f, ', ', $sen, PHP_EOL;
?>
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Ruby 1.9.2p0 -- 208 C

b="%d bottle%s of beer";99.downto(1){|n|s=b%[n,n>1?'s':''];a=n-1;puts s+" on the wall, "+s+(n>1?"\nTake one down and pass it around,#{b%[a,a>1?'s':'']}":"\nGo to the store and buy some more, #{b%[99,'s']}.")}
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Ocaml - Hope this counts as creative

open Printf

let display () =
   let language = ref 99 in
   let ocaml = "bottles of beer on the the wall, " in
   let joy = " bottles of beer." in
   let usage = "Take one down and " in
   let is = "pass it around, " in
   let recommended = " bottles of beer on the wall." in
   let what = "bottle of beer on the wall, " in
   let like = "bottle of beer." in
   let applauded = " bottle of beer on the wall." in
   while (!language > 1) do
      let say = (string_of_int !language) in
      let strongly = (string_of_int (!language - 1)) in
      printf "%s %s %s %s\n" say ocaml say joy;
      if (!language > 2) then
         printf "%s %s %s %s\n" usage is strongly recommended
      else 
         printf "%s %s %s %s\n" usage is strongly applauded;
      language:= !language - 1;
   done;
   let say = (string_of_int !language) in
   let the_end = "Go to the store and buy some more, 99 bottles of beer on the wall." in
   printf "%s %s %s %s\n" say what say like;
   printf "%s\n" the_end
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Q, 245

{-1(-3!x),b,$[x=1;e;d],a,", ",(-3!x),b,$[x=1;e;d]," of beer.\n",$[x=1;"Go to the store and buy some more, ";"Take one down and pass it around, "],(-3!$[x=1;99;x-1]),(b:" bottle"),$[x=2;e:"";d:"s"],(a:" of beer on the wall"),".";}each(99-til 99);
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Javascript (234)

o=' bottle',b=' of beer',s=o+'s'+b,w=' on the wall',t='.\nTake one down and pass it around, ',g='.\nGo to the store and buy some more, ',c=', ',i=99,n=i+s;while(i>1)print(n+w+c+n+t+(n=--i+o+[i>1?'s':'']+b));print(n+w+c+n+g+99+s+w+'.')

There is probably a way to reduce even further by avoiding the double print.

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up vote 0 down vote

CoffeeScript - 233

CoffeeScript is a bit hard to minify, but it's not bad:

b=' bottle';r=' of beer';w=' on the wall';t='Take one down and pass it around, ';g='Go to the store and buy some more, ';c=', ';i=100;x=1;(d=->x=--i+b+['s'if i>1]+r)();print x+w+', '+x+'\n'+(i>1&&t+d()+'\n'||--i||g+99+b+'s'+r)while i
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up vote 0 down vote

VB11 (Creative Version)

Imports System.Runtime.CompilerServices
Module BottleSong
 Sub Main()
 Console.WriteLine(<Song>
<%= Iterator Function()
For i=99 To 0 Step -1:Yield i:Next
End Function().Select(Function(Bottles)<Verse>
<%= Bottles.OfBeer %> on the wall, <%= Bottles.OfBeer %>.
<%= If(Bottles > 0, "Take one down and pass it around", "Go to the store and buy some more") %>.
<%= (Bottles - 1).OfBeer %> on the wall,<%= (Bottles - 1).OfBeer %>.

</Verse>)%></Song>.Value)
 End Sub

<Extension()>Public Function OfBeer(Bottles As Integer) As XNode
    Bottles = If(Bottles < 0, 99, Bottles)
    Return <Bottles><%= Bottles %> bottle<%= If(Bottles <> 1, "s", "") %> of Beer</Bottles>
End Function
End Module

Exploiting some of vb.net features.

  • XML LIterals
  • Iterator Lambda
  • Extension Method
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up vote 0 down vote

AS2 - 159

a=99
b=" bottles of beer"
c=" bottle of beer"
d=" on the wall,"
e=", take one down and pass it around,"
while(a>0)
{
f=e+(a-1)+b+d
g=d+a
if(a<2)
    trace(a + c + g + c + f)
else
    trace(a + b + g + b + f)
--a
}

AS2 - 158 - Trimmed one off with a new if statement

a=99
b=" bottles of beer"
c=" bottle of beer"
d=" on the wall,"
e=", take one down and pass it around,"

while(a>0)
{
f=e+(a-1)+b+d
g=d+a
if(a<2?trace(a + c + g + c + f):trace(a + b + g + b + f));
--a
}

AS3 - 151 - Even shorter

a=99
o=" of beer"
f=" bottle"
d=" on the wall"
g=f+"s"+o
while(a)e=a^1?g:f+o,trace(a+e+d+", "+a+e+".\nTake one down and pass it around, "+--a+(a^1?g:f+o)+d)
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C

I must have missed this question, so here's a version I posted as an answer elsewhere. It's a C quine based version. Compile and run to get next line of song. Repeat until bored. If code says "Time to go..." then enter number of beers next time you run as a command line argument.

// Time to go to the shop and get some beer
//
//
//
//
// #####.#####.#####.#####.#####.#####.#####
// ##.#####.#####.#####.#####.#####.#####.##
// #####.#####.#####.#####.#####.#####.#####
// ##.#####.#####.#####.#####.#####.#####.##

char *z [] = {
"void l(char *s,int b){int i;printf(\"// \");for(i=0;i<b;++i)printf(s);",
"printf(\"\\n\");}\nint main(int argc, char *argv[]){\nint i,j,k,x=%d;",
"char*p;\nif(!x&&argc==2)x=atoi(argv[1]);\nif(!x){printf(\"// Time to ",
"go to the shop and get some beer\\n//\\n//\\n//\\n//\\n\");k=7;\n",
"}else{printf(\"// %%d bottles of beer on the wall, %%d bottles of beer",
".\\n\",x,x);printf(\"// Take one down and pass it round, \");\n",
"if(x>1)printf(\"%%d bottles of beer on the wall.\\n//\\n\",x-1);\n",
"else printf(\"no more bottles of beer on the wall.\\n//\\n\");\n",
"k=x>2?x:2;l(\"  ^   \",x);l(\" / \\\\  \",x);l(\"/   \\\\ \",x);",
"l(\"|   | \",x);l(\"|Duf| \",x);l(\"|   | \",x);l(\"----- \",x);}\n",
"for(i=0;i<4;++i){\nprintf(\"// %%s\", i&1 ? \"##.\" : \"\");\n",
"for(j=i&1;j<k;++j)\nprintf(\"%%s#####\",j!=(i&1)?\".\":\"\");\n",
"printf(\"%%s\\n\",i&1?\".##\":\"\");}\nprintf(\"\\nchar *z [] = {\\n\");\n",
"for(i=0;i<sizeof z/sizeof z[0];++i){\nprintf(\"\\\"\");\n",
"for(p=z[i];*p;++p)\nswitch (*p){\ncase '\\n':printf(\"\\\\n\");break;\n",
"case '\\\\':printf(\"%%c%%c\",92,92);break;\n",
"case '%%':printf(\"%%c\",37);break;\ncase '\"':printf(\"%%c%%c\",92,'\"');break;\n",
"default:printf(\"%%c\", *p);break;}\nprintf(\"\\\",\\n\");}\n",
"printf(\"};\\n\");\nfor(i=0;i<sizeof z/sizeof z[0];++i)\n",
"printf(z[i],x?x-1:0);}\n",
};
void l(char *s,int b){int i;printf("// ");for(i=0;i<b;++i)printf(s);printf("\n");}
int main(int argc, char *argv[]){
int i,j,k,x=0;char*p;
if(!x&&argc==2)x=atoi(argv[1]);
if(!x){printf("// Time to go to the shop and get some beer\n//\n//\n//\n//\n");k=7;
}else{printf("// %d bottles of beer on the wall, %d bottles of beer.\n",x,x);printf("// Take one down and pass it round, ");
if(x>1)printf("%d bottles of beer on the wall.\n//\n",x-1);
else printf("no more bottles of beer on the wall.\n//\n");
k=x>2?x:2;l("  ^   ",x);l(" / \\  ",x);l("/   \\ ",x);l("|   | ",x);l("|Duf| ",x);l("|   | ",x);l("----- ",x);}
for(i=0;i<4;++i){
printf("// %s", i&1 ? "##." : "");
for(j=i&1;j<k;++j)
printf("%s#####",j!=(i&1)?".":"");
printf("%s\n",i&1?".##":"");}
printf("\nchar *z [] = {\n");
for(i=0;i<sizeof z/sizeof z[0];++i){
printf("\"");
for(p=z[i];*p;++p)
switch (*p){
case '\n':printf("\\n");break;
case '\\':printf("%c%c",92,92);break;
case '%':printf("%c",37);break;
case '"':printf("%c%c",92,'"');break;
default:printf("%c", *p);break;}
printf("\",\n");}
printf("};\n");
for(i=0;i<sizeof z/sizeof z[0];++i)
printf(z[i],x?x-1:0);}
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Python

i=99
while i>0:
 k,b,o="%s bottles"," of beer"," on the wall"
 if i==1:k=k[:9]+k[10:]
 '%s, %s.'%(k+b+o,k+b)%(i,i)
 if i!=1:'Take one down and pass it around, %s'%x[:31]%(i-1)
 i-=1
else: 'Go to the store and buy some more, %ss%s.'%(k,o)%99
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1  
what language is this? – Nate Koppenhaver Oct 15 '11 at 1:27
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up vote 0 down vote 
for i in range(99,0,-1): r=", ";m=i-1;n=".\n";v='s';k=(v,'')[m<2];b=" of beer";w=" on the wall";a=" bottle";y=a+v+b;s=`i`+y+w+r+`i`+y+n+"Take one down and pass it around"+r+`m`+a+k+b+w+n;t=`i`+a+b+w+r+`i`+a+b+n+"Go to the store and buy some more, 99"+y+w+n;print (s,t)[i<2]

python one liner

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1  
How about one line with no semi-colons? I'd +1 that. – primo Mar 14 at 18:27
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Python - a lot

Amidoinitrite?

print"""99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer.
Take one down and pass it around, 98 bottles of beer on the wall.

98 bottles of beer on the wall, 98 bottles of beer.
Take one down and pass it around, 97 bottles of beer on the wall.

97 bottles of beer on the wall, 97 bottles of beer.
Take one down and pass it around, 96 bottles of beer on the wall.

96 bottles of beer on the wall, 96 bottles of beer.
Take one down and pass it around, 95 bottles of beer on the wall.

95 bottles of beer on the wall, 95 bottles of beer.
Take one down and pass it around, 94 bottles of beer on the wall.

....

  Ok, this is stupid. First of all, what the brainfuck are the bottles doing on the wall? They're not spiders nor picture frames. And how are they sitting on the wall?

94 bottles of beer on the wall, 9.. oops, they fell down. 94 bottles of beer on the floor, 94 bottles of beer.

  Second.. who the HQ9+ wants to keep track? I think I lost count after drinking the 2nd one...

Take one ... um... up, and pass it around,  .....  er.. a lot of bottles of beer still on the floor.

  Fourthly, what's with this passing around scheme? They're not j..I mean letters, yeah, or boxes of chocolate. We all can just take one and drink it. It's healthier too.

A pile of bottles of beer on the floor, a pile of bottles of beer.
Everyone take one up and drink it, still a whole bunch of bottles of beer on the floor.

  Um.. seventhly, are we really that many in this assembly that we can finish 200 or however many bottles we had in the beginning? Without passing out?

Go to the store and buy some more

  Yeah and who's gonna pay for it? Definitely not me. And how are you going to bring 300 bottles back from the store?
  In your car? Buddy, you're so drunk, you can't even C anything. Go home dude, go home. Take a cab."""

Additional reference (helped me a lot with the code): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0Z0raWIHXk

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up vote -2 down vote

Ruby — 199

Censored version, until we decide, what to do with http://www.codegolf.com questions.

g,x=" on the wall"
puts CENSORED.map{|i|CENSOREDbottle#{CENSORED1} of beerCENSORED

#{xCENSORED}."}.reverse*"
Take one down and pass it around, ")CENSORED,"Go to the store and buy some more,CENSORED"
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