Draw an S-Chain

Question

Background

When I was younger, I was taught a method of drawing a weird "S" shape, that I (along with my classmates) found fascinating. Today, I rediscovered it, and due to its formulaic approach to drawing it, thought it could lead to an interesting challenge :P

Drawing the "S"

The S can be drawn by following these simple steps:

First, draw 2 rows of three vertical lines like so

| | |

| | |

Next, connect the top left line with the bottom middle line and the top middle with the bottom right line to produce

| | |
 \ \
| | |

Finally, draw a top and bottom on the currently drawn image so that it ends up looking like

  ^
 / \
| | |
 \ \
| | |
 \ /
  v

As you can see, this results in an "S" shape. When extended however (drawing it with more than 2 rows), it produces a very interesting pattern. Your task is reproduce this interesting pattern.

Task

Given an integer where n >= 2, output The S with n rows to be made from it. Output may be returned from a function, and input may be taken in standard methods. Trailing/leading whitespace for both the overall image, as well as each line, is fine. However, leading line spaces must be consistent so that the " isn't broken. You may output as a list of lines.

Test cases

input
output
---

2

  ^
 / \
| | |
 \ \
| | |
 \ /
  v

---

8
  ^
 / \
| | |
 \ \
| | |
 \ \
| | |
 \ \
| | |
 \ \
| | |
 \ \
| | |
 \ \
| | |
 \ \
| | |
 \ /
  v

---

10

  ^
 / \
| | |
 \ \
| | |
 \ \
| | |
 \ \
| | |
 \ \
| | |
 \ \
| | |
 \ \
| | |
 \ \
| | |
 \ \
| | |
 \ \
| | |
 \ /
  v

This is a code-golf so shortest code wins! Good luck,

Wikipedia calls the S the Cool S, and calls an infinite version of the an S Chain — Stephen, Sep 20, 2017 at 19:16
@Stephen 10 minutes googling and this didn't come up. I'll edit the name of the question — caird coinheringaahin g, Sep 20, 2017 at 19:18
@cairdcoinheringaahing I searched images, that might have been it :P — Stephen, Sep 20, 2017 at 19:19

steenbergh · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-21 16:38:29Z

QBIC, 48 bytes

?@  ^`?@ / \ `[:|?@| | |`~a=b|?_fB|?@  v`\?@ \ \

Explanation

Note that every '?' inserts a linebreak
Also note that @...` creates a string literal and assigns that to A$, B$, ... Z$
?@  ^`      print ^ prefixed with 2 spaces
?@ / \ `    print the other start bit, pre- and postfixed with spaces
[:|         FOR a = 1 to (chain-length given as cmd line param, read as 'b')
?@| | |`    PRINT the pipes
~a=b|       IF we are in the last iteration THEN
?_fB|           print the reversed of B$
                    _f...| flips a string
                    B$ holds " / \ ", which reversed is " \ / "
?@  v`          and print "  v"
\           ELSE
?@ \ \          print the connector to the next section
The final string lit, the IF and the FOR are auto-closed at EOF

stevefestl · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-23 01:12:28Z

1

Batch, 109 bytes

I believe this isn't completely golfed yet.

@echo   ^^
@echo  / \
@for /l %%G in (2,1,%1)do @echo ^| ^| ^|&@echo  \ \
@echo ^| ^| ^|
@echo  \ /
@echo   v

This script just:

Output the top of the Cool S
Loop n times the chain body
Output the bottom of the Cool S

answered Sep 23, 2017 at 1:12

stevefestl

5493 silver badges12 bronze badges

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sporkl · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-26 21:27:23Z

Jelly, 32 bytes

Boring port of Lynn's Python solution.

“\¶| | |¶ \ ”ẋṭ“  ^¶ / ”;“/¶  v”

Try it online!

Explanation:

“\¶| | |¶ \ ”ẋṭ“  ^¶ / ”;“/¶  v”    Example input: 5
“\¶| | |¶ \ ”                       Literal string "\¶| | |¶ \ " (¶ = newline). Result: "\¶| | |¶ \ "
             ẋ                      Repeat as many times as the (implicit) input. Result: "\¶| | |¶ \ \¶| | |¶ \ \¶| | |¶ \ \¶| | |¶ \ \¶| | |¶ \ "
              ṭ                     Tack that on the end of...
               “  ^¶ / ”            ...the string "  ^¶ / ". Result: "  ^¶ / \¶| | |¶ \ \¶| | |¶ \ \¶| | |¶ \ \¶| | |¶ \ \¶| | |¶ \ "
                        ;           Append...
                         “/¶  v”    The string "/¶  v". Result: "  ^¶ / \¶| | |¶ \ \¶| | |¶ \ \¶| | |¶ \ \¶| | |¶ \ \¶| | |¶ \ /¶  v"
                                    Implicit print

Giuseppe · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-26 21:49:04Z

1

R, 90 bytes

function(n){cat('  ^
 / \\
| | |
')
for(i in 2:n-1)cat(' \\ \\
| | |
')
cat(' \\ /
  v
')}

Try it online!

pretty lame, but this is the best we've got to work with in R.

answered Sep 26, 2017 at 21:49

Giuseppe

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totallyhuman · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-04 12:55:29Z

1

Retina, 37 bytes

.*
$*
1
\¶| | |¶ \ 
^
  ^¶ / 
$
/¶  v

Try it online!

I must be missing something, this is a super basic approach...

answered Oct 4, 2017 at 12:55

totallyhuman

16.3k3 gold badges31 silver badges86 bronze badges

\$\begingroup\$ You did only outgolf Martin by 1 byte, so you probably aren't missing something \$\endgroup\$
– caird coinheringaahin g ♦
Oct 4, 2017 at 12:57

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Sherlock9 · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-04 13:43:51Z

Actually, 30 bytes

This works on the same principle as ETHproductions's Japt answer, where extra spaces are added later, and the whole string is split into rows of 5 for implicit printing. Try it online!

"\|||\"*" ^ /"+"/ v"@+#' j5@╪i

Ungolfing

            Implicit input.
"\|||\"*    Add the middle portion and multiply that by the input.
" ^ /"+     Append the top.
"/ v"@+     Append the bottom.
#           Convert into a list of strings
' j         Join with spaces.
5@╪         Split into a list of length-5 strings.
i           Flatten list onto the stack for implicit printing with newlines.

\$\begingroup\$ Nice job outgolfing Mego in his own language! \$\endgroup\$
– caird coinheringaahin g ♦
Oct 4, 2017 at 13:46 — caird coinheringaahin g, Oct 4, 2017 at 13:46

Sherlock9 · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-04 14:41:51Z

Jelly, 25 23 bytes

This works on the same principle as ETHproductions's Japt answer, where extra spaces are added later, and the whole string is split into strings of length 5 before printing. Try it online!

Edit: I knew there was a way to join the top and bottom of the S-chain in a golfier way. Thanks to Erik the Outgolfer for -2 bytes.

“\|||\”ẋ“ ^ /“/ v”jKs5Y

Ungolfing

                Left argument: n
“\|||\”ẋ        Repeat the middle portion n times.
“ ^ /“/ v”j     Append the top and bottom.
K               Join with spaces.
s5              Split into a list of length-5 strings.
Y               Print the strings with linefeeds.

\$\begingroup\$ “\|||\”ẋ“ ^ /“/ v”jKs5Y \$\endgroup\$
– Erik the Outgolfer
Oct 4, 2017 at 14:29 — Erik the Outgolfer, Oct 4, 2017 at 14:29

Neil · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-27 11:15:52Z

1

Charcoal, 25 bytes

↘^\¶/¶Ｇ→⁵↓⊕⊗Ｎ←⁵|¶ \↗¶\¶v/

Try it online! Link is to verbose version of code.

answered Oct 27, 2017 at 11:15

Neil

166k12 gold badges69 silver badges273 bronze badges

\$\begingroup\$ Funny how the other Charcoal answer is the same byte-count by using an completely different approach. I like yours more, though. The other is close to hard-coded, but yours is actually using Charcoal's strength. \$\endgroup\$
– Kevin Cruijssen
Oct 27, 2017 at 12:13
\$\begingroup\$ @KevinCruijssen You say strength, but that should really be printing diagonally; sadly the best I could do there was 29 bytes: ↘^\|¶/|\|¶|Ｆ⊖Ｎ↘\|\|¶|↘\|/¶|\v \$\endgroup\$
– Neil
Oct 27, 2017 at 13:48

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Jo. · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-28 07:09:31Z

1

PHP, 73 bytes

<?='  ^
 / \
'.join('
 \ \
',array_fill(0,$argv[1],'| | |')).'
 \ /
  v';

Try it online!

answered Oct 28, 2017 at 7:09

Jo.

1,0345 silver badges10 bronze badges

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Jonah · Accepted Answer · 2021-03-17 04:36:58Z

1

J, ^{51 50} 48 bytes

'  v',~'  ^','/'(0 1;_1 3)}' \ \ | | |'$~5,~1++:

Try it online!

edited Mar 17, 2021 at 4:36

answered Oct 28, 2017 at 3:13

Jonah

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Febriyanto Nugroho · Accepted Answer · 2021-03-21 03:53:03Z

x86_16 machine code - 76 bytes

8B CB         MOV CX, BX
49            DEC CX
B4 09         MOV AH, 09H 
           ATAS:
BA 02 01      MOV DX, OFFSET RANTAI_S_1
CD 21         INT 21H
85 C9         TEST CX, CX
74 09         JE BAWAH   
          .LOOP:
BA 15 01      MOV DX, OFFSET RANTAI_LOOP
CD 21         INT 21H
E3 02         JCXZ BAWAH
E2 F7         LOOP .LOOP           
          BAWAH:
BA 23 01      MOV DX, OFFSET RANTAI_S_2
CD 21         INT 21H           
          EXIT:
B8 00 4C      MOV AX, 4C00H
CD 21         INT 21H 

RANTAI_S_1      DB 020H, 020H, 05EH, 00AH, 00DH, 020H, 02FH, 020H, 05CH
                DB 00AH, 00DH, 07CH, 020H, 07CH, 020H, 07CH, 00AH, 00DH
                DB 024H 

RANTAI_LOOP     DB 020H, 05CH, 020H, 05CH, 00AH, 00DH, 07CH, 020H, 07CH
                DB 020H, 07CH, 00AH, 00DH, 024H 

RANTAI_S_2      DB 020H, 05CH, 020H, 02FH, 00AH, 00DH, 020H, 020H, 076H
                DB 024H

Tested on DOSBox

absoluteAquarian · Accepted Answer · 2021-03-21 04:11:36Z

CSASM v2.1.2.3, 130 bytes

By far the shortest answer I'll submit with this language. (Probably)
Hooray for builtins!

func main:
in ""
conv i32
pop $a
push "  ^\n / \\\n| | |\n"
push " \\ \\\n| | |\n"
push $a
push 1
sub
mul
add
push " \\ /\n  v"
add
print
ret
end

Commented and ungolfed:

func main:
    ; Get the input, convert it to an integer and store it in the accumulator
    in ""
    conv i32
    pop $a

    ; Push the first three rows of the chain
    push "  ^\n / \\\n| | |\n"

    ; Push the next two rows of the chain
    push " \\ \\\n| | |\n"

    ; Duplicate those two rows ($a - 1) times
    push $a
    push 1
    sub
    mul

    ; Append the duplicated rows to the first three rows
    add

    ; Push the final 2 rows
    push " \\ /\n  v"

    ; Append them
    add

    ; Print the result string on the stack
    print
    ret
end

hakr14 · Accepted Answer · 2021-03-21 05:40:42Z

1

Pyth, 28 bytes

jcjd++" ^ /"*Q"\|||\\""/ v"5

Test suite

Translation of Sherlock9 's Jelly answer.

answered Mar 21, 2021 at 5:40

hakr14

4,9641 gold badge10 silver badges18 bronze badges

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hakr14 · Accepted Answer · 2021-03-21 18:55:17Z

Canvas, 22 bytes

| | |¶\ \＊ｋ^¶/ \：↕└∔∔ｒ

Try it here!

Explanation:

Code                       # Explanation               # Stack visualization
#############################################################################################
                           # Stack starts with input   # <input>
| | |¶\ \                  # Push string literal       # <input>, | | |¶\ \
         ＊                # Repeat vertically n times # | | |¶\ \...| | |¶\ \
           ｋ              # Remove last line          # | | |¶\ \...| | |
             ^¶/ \         # Push string literal       # | | |¶\ \...| | |, ^¶/ \
                  ：       # Duplicate TOS             # | | |¶\ \...| | |, ^¶/ \, ^¶/ \
                    ↕      # Mirror vertically         # | | |¶\ \...| | |, ^¶/ \, \ /¶v
                     └     # Swap 2nd and 3rd in stack # ^¶/ \, | | |¶\ \...| | |, \ /¶v
                      ∔    # Add vertically            # ^¶/ \, | | |¶\ \...| | |¶\ /¶v
                       ∔   # Add vertically            # ^¶/ \¶| | |¶\ \...| | |¶\ /¶v
                        ｒ # Center each line          #   ^¶ / \¶| | |¶ \ \...| | |¶ \ /¶  v
                           # Print TOS                 #

¶ represents a newline in the stack visualization.

Makonede · Accepted Answer · 2021-03-21 19:20:03Z

05AB1E, 22 bytes

…\||û×" ^ /ÿ/ v"Sðý5ô»

Try it online!

…\||û×" ^ /ÿ/ v"Sðý5ô»  # full program
                     »  # split...
      " ^ /ÿ/ v"        # literal...
                        # (implicit) with ÿ replaced by...
…\||                    # literal...
    û                   # concatenated with...
…\||                    # literal...
    û                   # reversed excluding the first character...
     ×                  # repeated...
                        # implicit input...
     ×                  # times...
                  ý     # with each...
                S       # character...
                  ý     # joined by...
                 ð      # spaces...
                     »  # into rows...
                    ô   # of length...
                   5    # literal
                        # implicit output

Taylor Alex Raine · Accepted Answer · 2021-03-22 13:05:48Z

1

Excel VBA, 71 Bytes

Anonymous VBE immediate window function that takes input from cell A1 and outputs to the VBE immediate window

a="| | |":?"  ^":?" / \":For i=2To[A1]:?a:?" \ \":Next:?a:?" \ /":?"  v

edited Mar 22, 2021 at 13:05

answered Oct 4, 2017 at 14:26

Taylor Alex Raine

8,2802 gold badges25 silver badges48 bronze badges

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Samuel Waller · Accepted Answer · 2021-03-23 16:53:31Z

1

GolfScript, 46 bytes

~['
| | |
']*' \\'2**' \\ /
  v'+
'  ^
 / \\'\

Try it online!

answered Mar 23, 2021 at 16:53

Samuel Waller

7515 silver badges8 bronze badges

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naffetS · Accepted Answer · 2022-05-27 03:34:12Z

1

Vyxal, 24 bytes

`\||`∞*` ^ /`p`/ v`JṄ5ẇ⁋

Try it Online!

answered May 27, 2022 at 3:34

naffetS

12.2k2 gold badges17 silver badges48 bronze badges

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Stack Exchange Network

Draw an S-Chain

Background

Drawing the "S"

Task

Test cases

48 Answers 48

QBIC, 48 bytes

Explanation

Batch, 109 bytes

Jelly, 32 bytes

R, 90 bytes

Retina, 37 bytes

Actually, 30 bytes

Jelly, 25 23 bytes

Charcoal, 25 bytes

PHP, 73 bytes

J, ^{51 50} 48 bytes

x86_16 machine code - 76 bytes

CSASM v2.1.2.3, 130 bytes

Pyth, 28 bytes

Canvas, 22 bytes

05AB1E, 22 bytes

Excel VBA, 71 Bytes

GolfScript, 46 bytes

Vyxal, 24 bytes

Your Answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged
code-golf
string
ascii-art
or ask your own question.

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Draw an S-Chain

Background

Drawing the "S"

Task

Test cases

48 Answers 48

QBIC, 48 bytes

Explanation

Batch, 109 bytes

Jelly, 32 bytes

R, 90 bytes

Retina, 37 bytes

Actually, 30 bytes

Jelly, 25 23 bytes

Charcoal, 25 bytes

PHP, 73 bytes

J, 51 50 48 bytes

x86_16 machine code - 76 bytes

CSASM v2.1.2.3, 130 bytes

Pyth, 28 bytes

Canvas, 22 bytes

05AB1E, 22 bytes

Excel VBA, 71 Bytes

GolfScript, 46 bytes

Vyxal, 24 bytes

Your Answer

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Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged code-golfstringascii-art or ask your own question.

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Hot Network Questions

J, ^{51 50} 48 bytes

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged
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or ask your own question.