Draw an hourglass

Question

Again inspired by a task for Programming 101 here's another challenge.

Input:

• A positive integer n >= 3. (has to be odd)

Output:

• n lines of asterisks, where the first line has n asterisks and every new line has two asterisks less than the line before. Until hitting 1 asterisk. From there every new line has two asterisks more than the line before until getting back to n asterisks. Spaces or something like spaces have to used to align the asterisks so that it really will look like an hourglass.

General rules:

• Trailing newlines are allowed but do not have to be used.
• indentation is a must.
• This is code-golf, so shortest answer in bytes wins.
• Since the course is taught in C++, I'm eager to see solutions in C++.

Test case (n=5):

*****
 ***
  *
 ***
*****

Answer 1

Charcoal, 6 bytes

Ｇ↘←↗Ｎ*

Dead simple. Draw a polyGon of *, with side length taken from an input Number, where the sides go down-and-right, horizontally left, and up-and-right:

*   *
 * *
  *
 * *
*****

Then autocomplete the outline and fill it.

*****
 ***
  *
 ***
*****

Try it online!

Answer 2

Python 2, 57 bytes

N=n=input()
exec"print('*'*max(n,2-n)).center(N);n-=2;"*n

A full program. Goes line by line, printing the right number of asterisks centered.

A recursive function was longer (67 bytes):

f=lambda n,p='':p+n*'*'+'\n'+(1%n*' 'and f(n-2,p+' ')+p+n*'*'+'\n')

or

f=lambda n,p='':1/n*(p+'*\n')or f(n-2,p+' ').join([p+n*'*'+'\n']*2)

Answer 3

C++ Metatemplates, 186 bytes

With the explicit formula from my C answer the Metatemplates are competing!

template<int N,int X=N*N+N-1>struct H{enum{I=X/(N+1)-N/2,J=X%(N+1)-N/2-1};S s{(J==-N/2-1?'\n':((I>=J&I>=-J)|(I<=J&I<=-J)?'*':' '))+H<N,X-1>().s};};template<int N>struct H<N,-1>{S s="";};

Ungolfed:

using S=std::string;

template <int N, int X=N*N+N-1>
struct H{
 enum{I=X/(N+1)-N/2,J=X%(N+1)-N/2-1};
 S s{(J==-N/2-1 ? '\n' : ( (I>=J&I>=-J)|(I<=J&I<=-J) ?'*':' '))+H<N,X-1>().s};
};

template <int N> struct H<N,-1> {S s="";}; 

usage:

std::cout << H<5>().s;

non-competing

Just for the sake of fun:

//T: Tuple of chars
template <char C, char...Tail> struct T { S r=S(1,C)+T<Tail...>().r; };

//specialization for single char
template <char C> struct T<C> { S r=S(1,C); };

//M: Repeated char
template <int N, char C> struct M { S r=S(N,C); };

//U: concatenates T and M
template <class Head, class...Tail> struct U { S r=Head().r+U<Tail...>().r; };

//specialization for Tail=M
template <int N, char C> struct U<M<N,C>> { S r{M<N,C>().r}; };

//specialization for Tail=T
template <char...C> struct U<T<C...>> { S r=T<C...>().r; };

//finally the Hourglass
template <int N, int I=0> struct H {
 S s=U<
       M<I,' '>,
       M<N,'*'>,
       T<'\n'>
      >().r;
 S r{s + H<N-2,I+1>().r + s};
};

//specialization for recursion end
template <int I> struct H<1,I> {
 S r=U<
       M<I,' '>,
       T<'*','\n'>
      >().r;
};

Usage:

std::cout << H<5>().r;

Answer 4

V, 12 bytes

Àé*hòl3Äjxx>

Try it online!

I like challenges like this because I get to show off the advantages of V's 2D nature. Explanation. First, we need to create a string of n asterisks. So, we do this:

À           " Arg1 times:
 é          " Insert the following single character:
  *         " '*'

As a side note, this is directly equivalent to @ai*<esc> in vim, and register @a is pre-initialized to "arg1". This makes numeric input much more convenient.

Then, we move on character to the right with h. Here is the fun part:

ò           " Until an error is thrown:
 l          "   Move one character to the right. This will throw an error on anyline with only one asterisk in it
  3Ä        "   Make 3 copies of this line
    j       "   Move down one line
     xx     "   Delete two characters
       >    "   Indent this line once.

Now technically, this last part is

òl3Äjxx>>ò

Because the indent command is actually >>. V conveniently assumes incomplete commands apply to the current line, and also implicitly fills in the second ò character for looping.

Answer 5

Python, 78 bytes

So only with indentation:

f=lambda n,i=0:n>1and' '*i+'*'*n+'\n'+f(n-2,i+1)+' '*i+'*'*n+'\n'or' '*i+'*\n'

Usage:

print f(5)

Answer 6

PowerShell v2+, 54 bytes

param($n)$n..1+2..$n|?{$_%2}|%{" "*(($n-$_)/2)+"*"*$_}

Takes input $n (guaranteed to be an odd integer), constructs two ranges with $n..1 and 2..$n and concatenates them together, then uses Where-Object to select only the odd ones with |?{$_%2}. Those are fed into a loop. Each iteration, we construct the appropriate number of spaces, string-concatenated with the appropriate number of asterisks. Those strings are left on the pipeline, and output via implicit Write-Output inserts newlines between them at program completion.

Examples

PS C:\Tools\Scripts\golfing> 3,5,7|%{.\draw-an-hourglass.ps1 $_;""}
***
 *
***

*****
 ***
  *
 ***
*****

*******
 *****
  ***
   *
  ***
 *****
*******

Answer 7

C, 114 109 bytes

i,j;k(n){for(i=-n/2;i<=n/2;++i)for(j=-n/2;j<=n/2+1;++j)putchar(j==n/2+1?10:(i>=j&i>=-j)|(i<=j&i<=-j)?42:32);}

ungolfed:

i,j;
k(n){
 for(i=-n/2;i<=n/2;++i)
  for(j=-n/2;j<=n/2+1;++j)
   putchar(j==n/2+1?10:(i>=j&i>=-j)|(i<=j&i<=-j)?42:32);
}

Previous recursive solution:

p(a,c){while(a--)putchar(c);}
f(n,i){p(i,32);p(n,42);p(1,10);}
g(n,i){if(n>1)f(n,i),g(n-2,i+1);f(n,i);}
h(n){g(n,0);}

Answer 8

JavaScript (ES6), 66 bytes

f=(n,s="*".repeat(n))=>n>1?s+`
`+f(n-2).replace(/^/gm," ")+`
`+s:s

The idea here is to generate each hourglass from the previous: add a space at the beginning of every line, and both prepend and append n asterisks.

Answer 9

05AB1E, 21 20 19 17 bytes

Saved 2 bytes thanks to carusocomputing

;ƒ'*¹N·-×Nð×ì})û»

Try it online!

Explanation

;ƒ                   # for N in [0 ... floor(input/2)+1]
  '*                 # push an asterisk
    ¹N·-×            # repeat the asterisk input-N*2 times
         Nð×ì        # prepend N spaces
             }       # end loop
              )      # wrap stack in a list
               û     # palendromize
                »    # join with newlines

Answer 10

MATL, 12 bytes

Q2/Zv&<~42*c

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Explanation

This makes use of the recently added symmetric range function.

Q     % Input n implicitly. Add 1
      % STACK: 6
2/    % Divide by 2
      % STACK: 3
Zv    % Symmetric range
      % STACK: [1 2 3 2 1]
&<~   % Matrix of all pairwise "greater than or or equal to" comparisons
      % STACK: [1 1 1 1 1
                0 1 1 1 0
                0 0 1 0 0
                0 1 1 1 0
                1 1 1 1 1]
42*   % Multiply by 42 (ASCII code of '*')
      % STACK: [42 42 42 42 42
                 0 42 42 42  0
                 0  0 42  0  0
                 0 42 42 42  0
                42 42 42 42 42]
c     % Convert to char. Implicitly display, with char 0 shown as space
      % STACK: ['*****'
                ' *** '
                '  *  '
                ' *** '
                '*****']

Answer 11

PHP, 95 bytes

for($c=str_pad,$m=$n=$argv[1];$n<=$m;$n+=$d=$d>0||$n<2?2:-2)echo$c($c('',$n,'*'),$m,' ',2)."
";

Instead of storing the rows in an array and then outputting everything, the for loop goes down until 1, and then goes back up to the original number.

Answer 12

C++11, 93 bytes

#include<string>
using S=std::string;S f(int n,int i=0){S s=S(i,32)+S(n,42)+'\n';return n>1?s+f(n-2,i+1)+s:s;}

Slightly ungolfed:

std::string f(int n,int i=0){
 auto s=std::string(i,' ') + std::string(n,'*') + '\n';
 return n>1 ? s+f(n-2,i+1)+s : s;
}

Usage:

std::cout << f(5);

Answer 13

MATL, 20 bytes

XyY>t1X!*t2X!+ZS42*c

Try it online!

Answer 14

C, 79 bytes

h(m,n,k){for(n=m++,k=n*m;--k;putchar(k%m?abs(k%m-m/2)>abs(k/m-n/2)?32:42:10));}

It splits the countdown variable k into row and column indices. If the column index is 0 (last char in a row), it outputs a newline character (10). Then it adjusts the row and column indices to be around the center asterisk. Then, abs(x) < abs(y) is a short condition for outputting a space.

Answer 15

R, 77 bytes

M=matrix(" ",n<-scan(),n);for(i in 1:n)M[i:(n-i+1),i]="*";cat(M,sep="",fill=n)

Creates a character matrix, which it then prints out via cat, with fill=n making sure the lines align properly. Note that elements are stored in a matrix column-first (i.e the first two elements are M[1,1] and M[2,1], not M[1,2].)

Answer 16

Java 7, 170 165 164 bytes

Thanks to @Hypino for saving 5 bytes.
Thanks to Kevin for saving 1 byte.

String c(int n,int x){String s,c,t=c=s=" ";int i=0;for(;i++<n;s+="*");for(i=x;i-->=0;c+=" ");for(i=x;i-->0;t+=" ");return(n=n-2)>=0?s+"\n"+c+c(n,++x)+"\n"+t+s:"*";} 

Answer 17

PHP - 95 bytes

$c=2;for($i=$a=$argv[1];$i<=$a;$i-=$c*=$i<2?-1:1)echo str_pad(str_repeat("*",$i),$a," ",2)."
";

Saved a byte by using an actual new line instead of an "\r"

Answer 18

APL, 19 bytes

' *'[1+∘.≤⍨(⊢⌊⌽)⍳⎕]

Test:

      ' *'[1+∘.≤⍨(⊢⌊⌽)⍳⎕]
⎕:
      5
*****
 *** 
  *  
 *** 
*****

Explanation:

                 ⎕   ⍝ read number  
                ⍳    ⍝ 1..N
           ( ⌊ )     ⍝ at each position, minimum of
            ⊢        ⍝ 1..N
              ⌽      ⍝ and N..1 (this gives 1..N/2..1)
       ∘.≤⍨          ⍝ outer product with ≤
     1+              ⍝ add 1 to each value
' *'[             ]  ⍝ 1→space, 2→asterisk

Answer 19

Canvas, 7 bytes

⇵｛*×］⤢┼

Try it here!

Explanation:

⇵｛*×］⤢┼
⇵         ceiling divide by 2
 ｛  ］    map over [1..pop]
   *         push *
    ×        repeat by the counter
       ⤢  transpose
        ┼  quad-palindromize with 1 overlap

+1 byte with support for even numbers

Answer 20

PowerShell, 54 50 bytes

filter f{if($_-1){'*'*$_;($_-2)|f|%{" $_"}}'*'*$_}

Try it online!

Answer 21

PHP, 104 88 bytes

for(;$i++<$argn;$a.='**',$i++>1?$o=$s.$o:1)$o.=$s=str_pad("*$a",$argn,' ',2)."
";echo$o;

Try it online!

This doesn't beat the lowest scores for PHP on this challenge, but it's just too crazy for me to throw away.

Okay, so I've golfed now it to be the (not for long) lowest score for PHP on this challenge, but it doesn't change the fact that it's still crazy.

$ echo 7|php -nF hour.php
*******
 *****
  ***
   *
  ***
 *****
*******

Answer 22

Add++, 90 bytes

+?
Fx,`i,j:i,-1,*" ",o,`j,x-,+1,+j,-1,*"a",O
x-1
Fx,`i,+1,j:i,x-,+1,*" ",o,`j,*2,-1,*"a",O

Try it online!

Just two for loops.

My first Add++ answer!

Answer 23

J, 30 28 26 25 bytes

-2 bytes thanks to FrownyFrog!

-3 bytes thanks to Jonah!

' *'#~](],.(-+:))i.@-<.i.

Try it online!

Previous version:

' *'{~[:(>.|.)@(*|."1)]\@#&1

Try it online!

Answer 24

Vyxal C, 14 13 11 bytes

-2 thanks to @Lyxal

½ʀƛd⁰ε×*;øm

Port of Emigna's 05AB1E solution.

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½ʀƛd⁰ε×*;øm    # Full program
  ƛ     ;      # Map each n
½ʀ             # in range(0, input / 2 + 1):
       *        # Repeat...
      ×         # the character `*`...
   d⁰ε          # abs(2 * n - input) times
          øm   # Palindromize
               # Implicit output (`C' flag): join the array on newlines and center each line

Answer 25

Uiua ^SBCS, 16 bytes

≡&p⊏:" *"⊞≤.↥⇌.⇡

Try it!

Assumes the output must be a string or printed. If a character matrix is acceptable, remove the ≡&p for -3 bytes.

• ↥⇌.⇡ Range, duplicate, reverse, max. If the input is 5, this would create [4 3 2 3 4] from it.
• ⊞≤. Table with itself by less than or equal to. This creates the binary hourglass matrix.
• The rest is just converting to characters and printing.

Answer 26

Vyxal 3 j, 11 bytes

zU•×ᵂ½ṚᶻḊVṅ

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Answer 27

Pip -l, 16 bytes

QP("* "_>BMCHUa)

Try It Online!

Explanation

QP("* "_>BMCHUa)
              a  ; Command-line argument
            HU   ; Halve and round up
          MC     ; Map this function to a square coordinate grid of that size:
       _>B       ;   1 if x coord is greater than y coord, 0 otherwise
                 ; This results in a matrix which is 1 below the main diagonal and
                 ; 0 on or above it
  ("* "        ) ; Use that as an index into this string: 0 -> "*", 1 -> " "
QP               ; Quad-palindromize
                 ; Print each element of the top-level list on a separate line (-l flag)

Alternate 16-byte solution

QP" *"@\$|*EYHUa
             HUa ; Halve argument and round up
           EY    ; Identity matrix of that size
       \$        ; Scan
          *      ; each row
         |       ; on logical OR
                 ; This results in a matrix which is 0 below the main diagonal and
                 ; 1 on or above it
QP" *"@          ; Index into a string and quad-palindromize, as before

Answer 28

Pyth, 22 bytes

j+J.e+*dk*b\*_:1hQ2_PJ

A program that takes input of an integer on STDIN and prints the result.

Try it online

How it works

j+J.e+*dk*b\*_:1hQ2_PJ  Program. Input: Q
              :1hQ2     Range from 1 to Q+1 in steps of 2. Yields [1, 3, 5, ..., Q]
             _          Reverse
   .e                   Enumnerated map with b as elements and k as indices:
      *dk                 k spaces
         *b\*             b asterisks
     +                    Concatenate the spaces and asterisks
  J                     Store in J
                    PJ  All of J except the last element
                   _    Reverse
 +                      Concatenate J and its modified reverse
j                       Join on newlines
                        Implicitly print

Answer 29

C, 195 191 Bytes

Should golf down a bit smaller

x,y,i;f(n){for(i=0;i<n;i+=2,puts("")){for(y=n-i;y<n;y+=2,putchar(32));for(x=i;x++<n;putchar(42));}for(i=n-2;~i;i-=2,puts("")){for(y=n-i+2;y<n;y+=2,putchar(32));for(x=i-1;x++<n;putchar(42));}}

We can test it here on ideone

Answer 30

Ruby, 55 54 bytes

f=->n,s=0{puts a=' '*s+?**n;(f[n-2,s+1];puts a)if n>1}