Blinking twelve

Question

Many electronic devices, specially old ones, will show a blinking 12:00 when the time has not been set. The purpose of this challenge is to recreate this.

Specifically, the task is to display 12:00 and --:-- alternatively in an infinite loop.

The period should be 1 second, divided evenly in two periods of 0.5 seconds. Here "1 second" and "evenly" can be interpreted loosely. For example, it is acceptable if the code pauses for 0.5 seconds between displaying the strings, even if the resulting period will then be a little higher than 1 second. An initial pause before displaying the first string is acceptable.

Each new string can be displayed either by replacing the former string or in a new line. Trailing whitespace is allowed, except that if each new string is on a different line there should be no empty lines between consecutive strings.

Shortest code in bytes wins.

Answer 1

HTML/CSS, 131 108 106 101 + 18 17 = 149 126 125 123 118 bytes

a{background:#FFF;margin:-5ch;animation:a 1s steps(2,start)infinite}@keyframes a{to{visibility:hidden

<tt>--:--<a>12:00

Edit: Saved 23 bytes thanks to @insertusernamehere. Saved 1 byte by switching from <pre> to <tt>. Saved 2 bytes thanks to @darrylyeo. Saved 5 bytes thanks to @DBS.

Answer 2

Shell and pv, 26 bytes

This use yes standard tool and pv Shell pipeline element to meter data passing through

yes '12:00
--:--'|pv -qlL2

Answer 3

Python2, 80 75 73 69 67 66 bytes

import time
n=0
while[time.sleep(.5)]:print"1-2-::0-0-"[n::2];n^=1

I noticed that my string magic got a little longer than picking the string from an array. Nevermind, figured it out.

Explanation:

• I set a counter n to 0, which will be toggled between 0 and 1.

• I loop endlessly with the loop while 1.

• I create a string 1-2-::0-0-, which contains the string 12:00 and --:-- interlapped.

  • Starting from the index 0 with a step of 2, we get: 12:00

  • Starting from the index 1 with a step of 2, we get: --:--

• I use n to make the repeated sequence 0, 1, 0, 1, 0... which will be the starting index of the string.

  • Using n^=1, in each loop, we get that sequence. ^ being the XOR-operator.
  • If n == 0 --> n^=1 results in 1
  • If n == 1 --> n^=1 results in 0
• I print the string, and sleep (.5 -> 0.5) seconds.

@FlipTack saved 4 bytes! --> Put the loop in one line.

@Rod saved 2 bytes! --> n+=1 to n^=1, thus n%2 to n.

@xnor saved a byte! --> while 1 --> while[time.sleep(.5)].

Answer 4

Octave, 63 62 61 55 bytes

c='--:--00:21';while c=flip(c)disp(c(1:5));pause(.5)end

Saved two bytes thanks to Tom Carpenter! Using a single string instead of two strings in a cell array was shorter.

Explanation:

c='--:--00:21';  % A string where the 5 first characters are --:-- or 12:00 when reversed
while c=flip(c)  % A string is always considered true in Octave, so this will loop forever
                 % while flipping the order of the string each time
 disp(c(1:5)     % display the 5 first characters of the string c
 pause(.5)       % Pause 0.5 second
end              % End loop

A few bytes saved because Octave doesn't require a colon or semicolon between flip(c) and disp(), and between pause(.5) and end.

Answer 5

JavaScript, 59 bytes

y=1;setInterval('console.log(["12:00","--:--"][y^=1])',500)

Explanation

setInterval('...',500) sets an interval to execute code in the string every 500 milliseconds, or 1/2 a second.

y=1 sets a variable, y, to 1 initially. That way, the first thing that is printed is 12:00 because y is used to access the array.

console.log(...) logs whatever to the console, in this either 12:00 or --:--.

["12:00","--:--"][y^=1] creates an array with strings containing both states. Then, y is used to access one of elements. Finally, ^=, or XOR compound operator does y = y ^ 1. This just inverts the bit because 1 ^ 1 is 0, and 0 ^ 1 is 1, similar to what @TuukkaX did. This way, the string logged alternates between the two elements in the array and thus creates the blinking effect.

Answer 6

V, 31 30 27 25 24 bytes

Saved 5 bytes thanks to @nmjcman101 by swapping the order of 12:00 and --:-- so that k can be removed any by removing ò so that it could be added implicitly at the end

Saved 1 byte thanks to @DJMcMayhem by putting both 12:00 and --:-- in one line

i12:00--:--<ESC>bDòVp:sl500m

Old Solution:

i12:00<ESC>ò:sl500m
Óä/-
:sl500m
uò

<ESC> is 0x1b

Hexdump:

00000000: 6931 323a 3030 2d2d 3a2d 2d1b 6244 f256  i12:00--:--.bD.V
00000010: 703a 736c 3530 306d                      p:sl500m

Explanation

i12:00--:--<ESC>   inserts 12:00\n--:--
bD                 go to the beginning of --:-- and delete it
ò                  recursively do:
 Vp                 select line and paste (effectively doing a replace)
 :sl500m            sleep for 500 milliseconds
                   the last ò is added implicitly at the end

Gif (outdated)

Note: I have highlighting turned on

Answer 7

bash, 58 56 45 41 bytes

New version 2022, (not very system friendly), but...

bash <(yes "read -t.5 -p"{--:--,12:00}\;)

or with newline: 45

bash <(yes "read -t.5 -p'
"{--:--,12:00}"';")

or with carrier return: 47

bash <(yes "read -t.5 -p$'\r"{--:--,12:00}"';")

saved 3 byte by suppressing -- after set as 1st arg is a number.

set 12:00 --:--;for((a=1;;a=3-a)){ echo ${!a};sleep .5;}

Saved 16 byte by using @DigitalTrauma's syntax:

f()(echo $1;sleep .5);f 12:00;f --:--;exec $0

Then loosing 5 bytes because of zeppelin's comment.

This could not be tested on command line. As we involve $0, this must be written into a script to run.

Divert

With a little preparation, this could become nice (412 bytes):

set -- "         ▗▖         
▗▄▄▖▗▄▄▖ ▝▘ ▗▄▄▖▗▄▄▖
         ▗▖         
         ▝▘         " " ▟▌ ▟▀▜▖ ▗▖ ▗▛▙ ▗▛▙ 
 ▐▌  ▗▟▘ ▝▘ █▗▐▌█▗▐▌
 ▐▌ ▗▛▗▖ ▗▖ ▜▖▟▘▜▖▟▘
▝▀▀▘▀▀▀▘ ▝▘  ▀▘  ▀▘ "
r=`tput cup 0`
clear;for((a=1;;a=3-a)){ printf "$r${!a}";sleep .5;}

Or even same two lines but with:

set -- '                                            






      HM!          .o#HMMMMM#o.                 .o#MMMMH#\\         .d#MMMMH#\\
    _HMMi         ?MMH*"""`"MMMb               dMMH"""`*MMH,      dMMH"""`*MMH.
##HMMMMMi        |MMP"       9MML             ?MMP      `MMM.    dMM?      `MMM.
`""`"9MM|        dMM!        -MMR     HMH}   .MMM        |MM}   .MMH        |MM|
     |MM|         "`         JMMT     dHH}   |MM|         MMM   |MM|        -MMM
     |MM!                 .,HMM*             |MM|         MMM.  ]MM|         MMM
     |MMi              _o#MMH*"              |MM|         MMM   {MM|         MMM
     |MMi           .dHMM#""                 |MM|         MMM"  {MM|        .MMM
     |MMi         .HMM*"                     `MM6        ,MMR   |MM}        |MMF
     |MMi        ,MMP"                        9MM,       dMM|    HMM,       dMM"
     {MMi        MMM?\\o,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\,     q##+    `HMM\\    .dMM?     `HMH\\    .dMM?
     |MM|       :MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM[     HMMk     `*HMM##MMM#"       `*HMM##MMMP"
      "`          "     ` ` ` `                   """"`""            """"""    ' '






                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                      MHM|                                      
                                      HHH|                                      
                                                                                
               ______.  ._______.            ________.  ._______.               
               MMMMMM:  {MMMMMMM|            &MMMMMMM:  |MMMMMMM[               
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                      ###|                                      
                                      MMM|                                      
                                                                               '

Answer 8

Perl, 49 bytes

{select$,,$,,$,,0.5;say$|--?"12:00":"--:--";redo}

Perl's sleep can't sleep for duration bellow 1 sec, hence the use of select undef, undef, undef, .5 (golfed by replacing undef with $,) to sleep .5 second.
Other interesting thing: $| can only hold 0 or 1. So $|-- just toggles its value, from 0 to 1.
And finally, {... ;redo} acts like an infinite loop.

Answer 9

Noodel, 16 bytes

--:-- 12:00ḷçėḍh

Noodel is still very much a work in progress. Just trying to get my feet wet with a couple of challenges.

Try it:)

How It Works

--:--            # Creates the string literal "--:--" and places i into the front of the pipe.
                 # Space is a NOP command to separate the string literals.
      12:00      # Creates the string literal "12:00" and places it into the front of the pipe.
           ḷ     # Loop the following code unconditionally.
            ç    # Clear the screen and print a copy of what is in the pipe.
             ė   # Take what is in the front of the pipe and put it into the back.
              ḍh # Delay for half a second.

---

Here is a code snippet:)

<div id="noodel" code="--:-- 12:00ḷçėḍh" input="" cols="10" rows="2"></div>

<script src="https://tkellehe.github.io/noodel/noodel-latest.js"></script>
<script src="https://tkellehe.github.io/noodel/ppcg.min.js"></script>

Answer 10

*><>, 43 42 bytes

<v":1200----"
S>@5dov>~r@@}r5
1&}o:&<^!?:-

Try it here!

I feel like I should be able to make this shorter, I have a couple ideas to try ... Basically this makes a stack of :1200----. It isolates the : and flips the stack, inserting the : in the middle of either ---- or 1200 (depending on whichever is at the end of the stack).

I should also note that the only *><> instruction this uses is S (sleep), otherwise this is a proper ><> program.

Update: Saved 1 byte by shifting the : to the right instead of protecting it with a register.

Explanation

Initialisation

<v":1200----"

Here we build the stack we'll be using for the life of the program.

<              move the IP left
  ":1200----"  push ":1200----" to the stack
 v             move the IP down into "output time"

Output time

 >@5dov
1&}o:&<^!?:-

This is the section where the time is actually outputted. First 5 is pushed to the stack so the loop below knows to run 5 times.

Initialisation:

 >@5dov

 >       move the IP right
  @      move the ":" back two spaces in the stack
   5     push 5 to the stack (let's call this `i`)
    do   output carriage return
      v  move IP down into "loop"

Loop:

1&}o:&<^!?:-

      <       move the IP left
     &        place i onto the register
  }o:         output a character and shift the stack left
 &            place i back onto the stack
1          -  decrement i by 1
       ^!?:   if i == 0, exit to "recover and swap"

Recover and swap

S      >~r@@}r5

Here we recover the : from the position it results in after the output, and we end up with a reversed stack. This actually exits into "output time" nicely, causing an infinite loop.

       >         move the IP right
        ~        remove trailing i from stack
         r@@     reverse the stack and move ":" to the front
            }r   reverse the stack again, keeping ":" on the front
S             5  sleep for 500ms

---

45 byte solution

<v[5"12:00"1
d/S5
o/!?l
v>]?v
 00.>0"--:--"5[

Try it here!

This one is also basically a ><> program.

I really thought it'd be able to save some bytes with this approach. This quite simply outputs 12:00, then --:--. I save bytes by reusing the output routine o/!?l (I even reuse that mirror as both entry and exit). I utilise multiple stacks to store the state (has output 12 or --), and select which state I should output with v>]?v.

^{Explanations coming soon! (1/2)}

Answer 11

HTML/CSS (Chrome only), 80 + 4 = 84 bytes

tt:after{content:"--:--";animation:a 1s infinite}@keyframes a{to{content:"12:00"

<tt>

Edit: The "content" attribute is not animatable by the CSS specification, but is on Chrome desktop browser.

Answer 12

Jelly, 20 bytes

.“12:00“--:--”ṄœS¥€ß

How it works

.“12:00“--:--”ṄœS¥€ß  Main link. No arguments.

.                     Set the return value to 0.5.
 “12:00“--:--”        Yield ["12:00", "--:--"].
                 ¥    Combine the two links to the left into a dyadic chain.
              Ṅ       Print the left argument.
               œS     Sleep as many seconds as the right argument specifies.
                  €   Map the created dyadic chain over the string array, with
                      right argument equal to the return value, i.e., 0.5.
                   ß  Recursive call the main link.

Answer 13

QBIC, 37 33 bytes

{sleep 01?@12:00`┘sleep 01?@--:--

QBasic unfortunately can only sleep for whole seconds. I'll see about devising a method to allow for more flexibility soon. I've input 1 as 01 to simulate .5.

Explanation:

{         Starts DO loop
sleep 01  Sleeps for 1 second
?@12:00`  Creates A$, sets value to "12:00" and prints A$
┘         Newline: a string literal doesn't break the line, so we need a newline to 
          control the compiled QBasic syntax
          <Rinse and repeat for "--:--">
          <DO-LOOP implicitly closed by QBIC>

In older builds of QBIC, $ and (space) were reserved characters. Calling a QBasic function that needed spaces (like sleep x) or $ (left$(..)) required a code literal:

'QBASIC CODE`

Code in a code literal block is passed directly to QBasic without being parsed by QBIC. By offloading functions from those symbols ($ became ', and newlines are now ┘ (alt-217) instead of ) the symbols are no longer seen by QBIC as special chars and simply passed on. The same is effectively true for the lowercase alphabet: it's used to represent numeric variables in both QBIC and QBasic and are left unchanged. Using QBasic functionality that is not implemented in QBIC (like SLEEP) is therefor simply a matter of not using QBIC reserved chars. This is made easier with the recent changes in the command symbols.

Answer 14

LibreLogo, 100 bytes (Non-Competing)

Code:

ht point fontsize 99 repeat [ cs sleep 500 if repcount % 2 [ label '12:00' ] else [ label '--:--' ]]

Explanation:

ht                            ; Hide Turtle (Unnecessary... Added for visual clarity)
point                         ; Draw a point with size and color of the pen
fontsize 99                   ; Font Size = 99 pt (Unnecessary... Added for visual clarity)
repeat [                      ; Endless Loop
    cs                        ; Clear Screen
    sleep 500                 ; Wait for 500 ms
    if repcount % 2 [         ; If the Repetition Count is Even...
        label '12:00'         ; Draw '12:00'
    ]
    else [                    ; Otherwise...
        label '--:--'         ; Draw '--:--'
    ]
]

Result:

Answer 15

JavaScript, 77 76 72 bytes

setInterval('l=console.log,l("12:00"),setTimeout("l(`--:--`)",‌​500)',1e3)

Thanks to Kritixi Lithos for 1 byte and L. Serne for 4 bytes!

Answer 16

Python 2, 88 85 73 71 bytes

import time
c="--:--00:21"
while 1:print c[:5];c=c[::-1];time.sleep(.5)

Try it here!

By borrowing Stewie Griffin's idea of flipping the list, the program was made possible. Ungolfed version with explanation:

import time                      # Import time module
c = "--:--00:21"                 # String with two values
while 1:                         # Infinite Loop
    print c[::5]                 # Print the first 5 chars in string
    c = c[::-1]                  # Flip the string
    time.sleep(.5)               # Wait 0.5 seconds

Thanks @FlipTack for saving 14 bytes!

Answer 17

PHP, 51 50 47

for(;;usleep(5e5))echo$i++%2?"--:--
":"12:00
";

1 byte saved due to manatwork and another 3 saved by insertusernamehere. Thanks!

Answer 18

Pyth, 23 bytes

#?=!Z"12:00""--:--".d.5

In pseudocode:

                Z = 0
#               while 1:
 ?=!Z               if ( Z = not Z ):
     "12:00"            print("12:00")
                    else:
     "--:--"            print("--:--")
 .d.5               sleep(0.5)

Uses preinitialized variable Z as the flip-flop, and inverts its state every time if tries to check the condition.

Answer 19

Mathematica, 38 bytes

Dynamic@If[Clock[]>.5,"12:00","--:--"]

Explanation

Clock[]

Outputs a clock variable that cycles continuously from 0 to 1 every second.

If[Clock[]>.5,"12:00","--:--"]

If the clock variable is greater than .5, output "12:00." If not, output "--:--".

Dynamic@ ...

Make the program dynamic (constantly updating)

Answer 20

ruby, 47 42 bytes

No ruby answer yet, so here is my first try:

%w{12:00 --:--}.cycle{|a|puts a;sleep 0.5}

Answer 21

GNU sed, 39 bytes

EDITS:

• Swapped sleep and i12:00 (to make source code look a bit nicer)

Golfed

s/^/sleep .5/
h
i12:00
e
i--:--
x
e
G
D

Explained

s/^/sleep .5/   #Put 'sleep .5' to the pattern space
h               #Copy pattern space to hold space
i12:00          #Print "12:00" (insert before a line) 
e               #Execute command that is found in pattern space
i--:--          #Print "--:--"
x               #Exchange the contents of the hold and pattern spaces
e               #Execute command that is found in pattern space

G               #Append a newline to the contents of the pattern 
                #space, and then append the contents of the hold
                #space to that of the pattern space.

D               #Delete text in the pattern space up to the 
                #first newline, and restart cycle with the 
                #resultant pattern space, without reading a new 
                #line of input.
                

Try It Online !

Answer 22

dc (bash), 37 bytes

[12:00][--:--][[rp!sleep .5]xlax]dsax

This works by pushing the two strings "12:00" and "--:--" on the stack and then repeatedly swapping the values, printing the item at the top of the stack, and sleeping half a second.

To run this, you can save it in a file and then type

dc filename

or you can run it directly from the bash command line by typing

dc <<<'[12:00][--:--][[rp!sleep .5]xlax]dsax'

Answer 23

Perl 6,  48 41  34 bytes

loop {print "\r",<--:-- 12:00>[$_=!$_];sleep .5}

loop {put <--:-- 12:00>[$_=!$_];sleep .5}

sleep .put/2 for |<12:00 --:-->xx*

Answer 24

Vim, 32 keystrokes

qq:sl500m<CR>S12:00<Esc>:<UP><CR>S--:--<Esc>@qq@q

Answer 25

Python 3, 75 bytes

import time
x=['12:00','--:--']
for i in x:x+=[i];print(i);time.sleep(.5)

Answer 26

Jelly, 22 bytes

®‘©ị“12:00“--:--”ṄœS.ß

Doesn't work on TIO. Getting Jelly to run on Android with QPython3 was also a fun experience.

Explanation

®‘©ị“12:00“--:--”ṄœS.ß    Main link. No arguments. 
®                         Read the register. Initially 0.
 ‘                        Increment. 
  ©                       Save to the register.
   ị                      Get the n'th (wrapping) item of...
    “12:00“--:--”         ["12:00", "--:--"]
                 Ṅ        Print the string and a newline. 
                  œS      Sleep for...
                    .     ...0.5 seconds. (. is an alias for 0.5)
                     ß    Call this link again. 

Answer 27

Javascript, 57 55

setInterval('console.log(++i%2?"12:00":"--:--")',i=500)

2 bytes saved thanks to ETHproductions

Answer 28

Javascript (in browser), 174 160 159 122 112 111 109 107 66 (91) bytes

I've taked of pre because using monotyped font is not part of requirement, so my new count is 66. Some chars are added to use monospaced font but as this is not needed, I won't count this 25 more chars.

Thanks to ETHproductions for saving 14 bytes,

to Kritixi Lithos for saving 1 byte,

to manatwork for saving 1 3 byte,

to Christoph for saving two more bytes and

to myself for saving 37 bytes by using [..][b^=1] instead of setTimeout... and 10 more by replacing function(){..} by double-quotes...

setInterval("document.body.innerHTML=++b%2?'12:00':'--:--'",b=500)

body{font-family:Courier}

... worse:

From 66 to something more...

... but for fun, in the spirit of a blinking display:

SVG="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg";XLNK="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink";
s=["1200","----"];p=0;function d(n){for(i=n.length;i>0;i--) {
  document.getElementById('n'+i).setAttribute('class','n'+n[i-1])}
  document.getElementById('sz').setAttribute('class','n'+n[0])}
setInterval("p=1-p;d(s[p])",500);

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Answer 29

QuickBASIC, 167 bites (yummy)

a%=VAL(RIGHT$(STR$(TIMER*100),2))
b%=a%+50
IF b%>99THEN b%=b%-99
DO
c%=VAL(RIGHT$(STR$(TIMER*100),2))
IF c%=a% THEN PRINT"--:--"
IF c%=b% THEN PRINT"12:00"
LOOP

I was never going to win anyways. QB doesn't have a floor(), and also doesn't have a function to sleep for x milliseconds. Therefore, this works by grabbing the floating point portion of the TIMER (returns seconds elapsed since midnight, plus a fraction of the current second expressed as a two-digit decimal). We then add a loop-around "50 units" to it to determine when the phase should switch from "--:--" to "12:00", and use the original TIMER decimal for the switch from "12:00" to "--:--".

Finally, even running this complied in QB4.5, in DOSBox on a rather powerful machine will skip beats. That's because QB really isn't fast enough to perform the DO-LOOP and evaluations inside of the MS we're doing the comparison in. Would need a box from the FUTURE!

Anyway, I now look 100, and I made every American University student happy since they probably have an answer for their Comp Sci class -- since they're still teaching this...

Answer 30

Clojure, 79 62 bytes

V2

-17 bytes by changing from an awful indexing loop to looping over an infinite list.

Creates an infinite list of "12:00" and "--:--" repeating over and over again, then uses doseq to constantly pull the next message, and print it.

(doseq[m(cycle["12:00""--:--"])](Thread/sleep 500)(println m))

V1

(loop[i 0](Thread/sleep 500)(println(["12:00""--:--"]i))(recur(if(= 0 i)1 0))))

I couldn't think of a good way to compact the "12:00" and "--:--" constants, so I had to just hard code them.

Ungolfed:

(loop [i 0] ; Track which sign we showed last
    (Thread/sleep 500)
    (println (["12:00" "--:--"] i)) ; Index the vector to get the string to print
    (recur (if (= 0 i)1 0))) ; Swap the index, and loop again