Print last inputted byte

Question

Challenge

You have one string of input bytes, output the last byte in it.

Rules

Your submission may be a program or function outputting the last byte in the input which

• is either a string, stdin or command-line arguments, and
• is non-empty.

I was trying to solve this with brainfuck, however all languages are allowed to participate. This is code-golf.

Examples

"?" -> "?"
"29845812674" -> "4"

Answer 1

Attache, 4 bytes

Last

Try it online! (If the input could be a list of characters, &/S could work.)

Alternatives

5 bytes: `@&-1

8 bytes: &/S@List

10 bytes: `@«_,-1»

10 bytes: Fold!Right

10 bytes: `@<~_,-1~>

10 bytes: `^^&:Right

10 bytes: {Right^^_}

11 bytes: Get«_,-1»

11 bytes: Get<~_,-1~>

12 bytes: `@«_,#_-1»

12 bytes: `@<~_,#_-1~>

13 bytes: Get«_,#_-1»

13 bytes: Get<~_,#_-1~>

Answer 2

x86-16 machine code, 2 bytes

As @CodyGray correctly points out, taking input as a string and output to a register removes the bulk of the standalone program version.

Input string is in SI, length in CX and output character is in AL:

F3 AC  REPZ LODSB      ; start at memory location pointer in SI, put next value in AL,
                       ; loop CX number of times. The last char will be in AL when done.

Or 4 bytes as a "Pascal string" (length is prepended to beginning of string):

AC     LODSB           ; first byte is string length
91     XCHG AX, CX     ; move length to CX for loop 
F3 AC  REPZ LODSB      ; start at memory location pointer in SI, put next value in AL,
                       ; loop CX number of times. The last char will be in AL when done.

Or 5 bytes as a "C string" (zero/null terminated), input in DI:

F2 AE     REPNZ SCASB     ; scan for value in AL (0), end when found and advance DI
8A 45 FE  MOV AL, [DI-2]  ; DI is now two bytes ahead of last, put value of DI-2 into AL

x86-16 machine code, IBM PC DOS, 12 11 10 bytes

Or as complete program as IBM PC DOS executable. Input is from command line, output is to console.

B3 80   MOV  BL, 80H            ; BX to DOS PSP at 80H 
8A 07   MOV  AL, BYTE PTR[BX]   ; get command line tail length 
D7      XLAT                    ; AL = [BX+AL] 
B4 0E   MOV  AH, 0EH            ; PC BIOS write to screen function  
CD 10   INT  10H                ; display  
C3      RET                     ; exit to DOS

Output:

Answer 3

Brainf***, 7 bytes

,[>,]<.

Answer 4

MATL, 2 bytes

0)

MATL uses 1-based modular indexing so this solution grabs the element in the 0-th position of the input which is the same as the last since the 0 wraps around to the end.

Try it out at MATL Online

Explanation

    % Implicitly grab the input
0   % Push the literal 0 to the stack
)   % Use this zero to grab the character at the end of the string
    % Implicitly display the result

Answer 5

PHP, 13 bytes

<?=$argn[-1];

Try it online!

Run with php -nF input is STDIN. Example:

$ echo 29845812674|php -nF lost.php

Answer 6

INTERCAL, 270 bytes

DO,1<-#1PLEASECOMEFROM(2)DOWRITEIN,1DO.1<-,1SUB#1DO.5<-#1$!1~#256'DO.2<-.3DO(1)NEXTPLEASE.2<-'"!3~#1'$!3~#16'"$"!3~#4'$!3~#64'"'$'"!3~#2'$!3~#32'"$"!3~#8'$!3~#128'"'DO(1010)NEXTPLEASE,1SUB#1<-.3PLEASEREADOUT,1DOGIVEUP(1)DO(1002)NEXTDO(1009)NEXTDO.3<-.3~#255(2)DOFORGET#1

Try it online!

Writing this was... interesting. I was thinking I might want to use INTERCAL to INTERCALate, but I'm a bit less sure now.

Ungolfed and commented:

        DO ,1<-#1             PLEASE NOTE We want the input array to only have space for one element, so it will only take one at a time
        DO COME FROM (2)
        DO WRITE IN ,1        PLEASE NOTE If this is the first byte of the input, it'll write its value... but if not, it'll write the
                              previous value minus its value mod 256.
        DO .1<-,1SUB#1
        DO .5<-#1$!1~#256'    PLEASE NOTE .5 is 3 if the input is 256, 2 otherwise
        DO .2<-.3
        DO (1) NEXT

                              PLEASE NOTE If we're here, we've found the end of the input. Now, we need to print it back out... C-INTERCAL's
                              array I/O, in order to determine what it will actually print, subtracts the value it's going to print from the
                              previous one (still mod 256, and with the previous value defaulting to 0), and then reads the bits of the byte
                              backwards. So in order to go from the value we want to display to the value we need to feed into READ OUT, we
                              reverse the bits and then subtract from 256. The nightmarish expression on the following line reverses the
                              bits the best way I could think to: individually select each one out and then mingle them all back
                              together. It may be possible to emulate the method used in cesspool.c, by using mingle and unary AND as a
                              substitute for binary AND where we can't afford for select to rearrange it, but it might end up longer...

        DO .2 <- '"'.3~#1'$'.3~#16'"$"'.3~#4'$'.3~#64'"'$'"'.3~#2'$'.3~#32'"$"'.3~#8'$'.3~#128'"'

        DO (1010) NEXT        PLEASE NOTE .1 already has 256 in it, which is very convenient for when you need to subtract .2 from 256.

        DO ,1SUB#1 <- .3      PLEASE NOTE If we just read .3 out, we'd get a Roman numeral instead of the correct output.
        DO READ OUT ,1

        DO GIVE UP            PLEASE NOTE End of program.

    (1) DO (1002) NEXT        PLEASE NOTE that that line in syslib does 1001 next, which pops .5 entries off the next-stack and returns
                              control flow to the last one, such that if .5 is 2 flow will come back here, but if it's 3 then it'll go back
                              to the line that nexted to this one.

                              Here we add .1 and .2 into .3, then truncate it to a byte before looping back (while managing the next-stack
                              responsibly so the program doesn't disappear into the black lagoon for any input over 79 (?) bytes)

        DO (1009) NEXT
        DO .3<-.3~#255
    (2) DO FORGET #1

Answer 7

Python 3, 14 bytes

lambda x:x[-1]

Try it online!

Answer 8

Javascript, 14 bytes

a=>a.slice(-1)

Answer 9

Bash + coreutils, 8 bytes

tail -c1

Input is from stdin, output is to stdout.

Answer 10

Turing Machine But Way Worse, 391 bytes

1 0 1 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 1 1 0 0
1 1 1 1 0 0 0
0 1 0 1 2 0 0
1 2 1 1 0 0 0
0 2 0 1 3 0 0
1 3 1 1 0 0 0
0 3 0 1 4 0 0
1 4 1 1 0 0 0
0 4 0 1 5 0 0
1 5 1 1 0 0 0
0 5 0 1 6 0 0
1 6 1 1 0 0 0
0 6 0 1 7 0 0
1 7 1 1 0 0 0
0 7 0 1 8 0 0
1 8 1 1 0 0 0
0 8 0 0 9 0 0
0 9 0 0 a 0 0
0 a 0 0 b 0 0
0 b 0 0 c 0 0
0 c 0 0 d 0 0
0 d 0 0 e 0 0
0 e 0 0 f 0 0
0 f 0 0 h 0 0
0 h 0 0 g 0 0
0 g 0 0 0 1 1
1 g 1 0 0 1 1

Try it online!

EXPLANATION

Detect eight zero bits (which will occur at the end of the input, since TMBWW uses an infinite tape of bits.)
1 1 1 1 0 0 0
0 1 0 1 2 0 0
1 2 1 1 0 0 0
0 2 0 1 3 0 0
1 3 1 1 0 0 0
0 3 0 1 4 0 0
1 4 1 1 0 0 0
0 4 0 1 5 0 0
1 5 1 1 0 0 0
0 5 0 1 6 0 0
1 6 1 1 0 0 0
0 6 0 1 7 0 0
1 7 1 1 0 0 0
0 7 0 1 8 0 0
1 8 1 1 0 0 0
0 8 0 0 9 0 0

-------------

When eight 0 bits are detected, move back to the final byte of the input and print it out while halting the program.
0 9 0 0 a 0 0
0 a 0 0 b 0 0
0 b 0 0 c 0 0
0 c 0 0 d 0 0
0 d 0 0 e 0 0
0 e 0 0 f 0 0
0 f 0 0 h 0 0
0 h 0 0 g 0 0
0 g 0 0 0 1 1
1 g 1 0 0 1 1

Answer 11

TI-BASIC (TI-84), 10 bytes

sub(Ans,length(Ans),1

Gets the last character in the input string.
Input is in Ans.
Output is in Ans and is automatically printed out.

Answer 12

Haskell, 9 4 bytes

last

Try it online!

Answer 13

Seed, 11 bytes

5 370394306

Try it online!

The resulting Befunge-98 program ~2j@, was stolen borrowed from Jo King here, so credit to them for that.

Answer 14

Arn, 2 bytes

:}

Pretty simple, the suffix :} gets the last element of an array (implicit casting)

Answer 15

Java 11+

Input from STDIN, 71 61 bytes

-10 bytes thanks to OlivierGrégoire

v->{var x=System.in;x.skip(x.available()-1);return x.read();}

Try it online!

Function Argument, 25 bytes

s->s.charAt(s.length()-1)

Answer 16

><>, 2 bytes

Using command line args

o;

Try it online!

><>, 11 bytes

Using stdin

\~o;
/?(0:i

Try it online!

Answer 17

05AB1E, 1 byte

¤

Try it online!

θ or ` would also work.

Answer 18

Cubix, 6 bytes

pA/@po

Try it online!

  p
A / @ p
  o

Watch it run

• A Takes all the input
• / Redirect around the cube
• pp bring bottom of the stack to the top twice
• o/@ output as character, redirect and halt

Answer 19

Befunge-93, 12 15 bytes

:1+_p1-,@>~#

Try it online!

Thanks to @Jo King for golfing off 3 bytes.

Alternate 15 byte version that is less messy:

~:1+#v!_
  @,$<

Taking strings as input in Befunge isn't the easiest. If there were a single command to take in multiple characters, it would be as simple as reading the string, popping/printing the top character, and exiting.

Answer 20

Jelly, 1 byte

Ṫ

Try it online!

Not the most difficult challenge in Jelly...

Note this accepts the input as a string; if the input could be interpreted otherwise (e.g. a number, a list), then it the argument will need to be quoted (e.g. "123456" or "[123,197]"). Alternatively this can be seen as a link that takes a byte array and returns the last member of that array, in accordance with PPCG standard rules.

Thanks to @MilkyWay90 and @ბიმო for pointing this out.

Answer 21

Emotion, 5 bytes

😶👉😃😨👿

Explanation

😶 Push a copy of the first stack value.
👉 Push the length of the first stack value interpreted as a string.
😃 Push literal 1
😨 Push the difference of the second and first stack values.
👿 Push the character of the second stack value at the index of the top stack value.

Try it online!

Answer 22

Excel, 10 bytes

Pretty much equivalent to @remoel's VBA answer:

=RIGHT(A1)

Answer 23

Cascade, 9 bytes

?a|,
;.]^

Pretty happy with this, as it is only 3 bytes longer than my cat program

Expanded

   ?
  ^;.
 | |a
 ] |
a ,|

This essentially just loops through pushing input characters into the a stack until EOF is reached. Then it outputs the item at the top of the a stack using .a.

Try it online!

Answer 24

Mornington Crescent, 389 Bytes

Even a task as simple as this presents an interesting optimisation challenge when riding the London Underground.

Take Northern Line to Bank
Take Circle Line to Bank
Take Central Line to Mile End
Take Central Line to Holborn
Take Piccadilly Line to Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3
Take Piccadilly Line to Acton Town
Take District Line to Acton Town
Take District Line to Parsons Green
Take District Line to Mile End
Take Central Line to Bank
Take Circle Line to Bank
Take Northern Line to Mornington Crescent

Try it online!

Visiting Mile End station allows you to take a substring from the end of the input - but to chop just 1 character, you need to generate the integer 1 somehow. Rather than doing any arithmetic, the fastest method turns out to be to parse it from the station name "Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3".

To bypass that, an alternate strategy for this challenge would be to reverse the input, read the character code for the now first byte, and then turn that back into a char to output - but this approach takes 12 bytes longer. (Although there are fewer trips needed, so the tickets would be cheaper.)

Answer 25

Rust, 25 16 10 bytes

|s|s.pop()

Try it on the Rust Playground!

An anonymous function that takes in a mutable String and outputs the char at the end of the string. Minus a lot of bytes, thanks to madlaina

Answer 26

PowerShell, 11 bytes

"$args"[-1]

Try it online!

Answer 27

SmileBASIC, 16 bytes

INPUT S$?POP(S$)

Answer 28

Twig, 37 bytes

This just uses a simple "extract 1 char from the end and print it" aproach.

{%macro a(a)%}{{a[-1:1]}}{%endmacro%}

It was really easy to do, and test, but was fun!

---

To use it, you have to put it on a .twig file and import it:

{% import 'a.twig' as a %}
{{ a.a("string") }} {# should display "g" #}

You can test it on https://twigfiddle.com/aa19wd (testcases included)

Answer 29

Bash, 13 bytes

echo ${1: -1}

string is passed as argument.

Try it online !

Answer 30

APL+WIN, 4 bytes

¯1↑⎕

Prompt for input string and select last byte.