Me Want Honeycomb

Question

Write the shortest program that prints this ASCII art section of a hexagonal tiling or honeycomb:

       __
    __/  \__
 __/  \__/  \__
/  \__/  \__/  \
\__/  \__/  \__/
/  \__/  \__/  \
\__/  \__/  \__/
/  \__/  \__/  \
\__/  \__/  \__/
   \__/  \__/
      \__/

No input should be taken.
Output to stdout or your language's closest alternative.
Instead of a program, you may write a named function that takes no parameters and prints the result normally or returns it as a string.
The output may have any number of leading and/or trailing newlines and each line in the output may have any number of leading and/or trailing spaces (as long as the pattern lines up properly.)
The shortest code in bytes wins.

@user3819867 I did consider that but preferred this. It's too late to change but not too late for anyone to make a related challenge. — Calvin's Hobbies, May 17, 2015 at 18:26

Dennis · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-17 16:57:02Z

CJam, 45 43 42 41 40 bytes

741e8 36+Ab"\__/  "38*21/.{G2$-<\S*.e<N}

Try it online in the CJam interpreter.

How it works

"\__/  "38*21/

repeats the pattern \__/ 38 times and splits it into chunks of length 21. If the chunks were separated by linefeeds, this would be the result:

\__/  \__/  \__/  \__
/  \__/  \__/  \__/  
\__/  \__/  \__/  \__
/  \__/  \__/  \__/  
\__/  \__/  \__/  \__
/  \__/  \__/  \__/  
\__/  \__/  \__/  \__
/  \__/  \__/  \__/  
\__/  \__/  \__/  \__
/  \__/  \__/  \__/  
\__/  \__/  \__/

This clearly contains the desired honeycomb. All that's left to do is to replace some characters with spaces, cut off some others and actually introduce the linefeeds.

741e8 36+Ab

generates the integer 74 100 000 036 and converts it into the array [7 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 6]. Each array element encodes the number of leading characters of the corresponding line that have to get replaced with spaces. By subtracting this number from 16, we also obtain the correct length for this line.

.{            } e# Execute for each pair of a digit D and a line L:
  G2$-<         e#   Chop off L after 16 - D characters.
       \S*      e#   Push a string of D spaces.
          .e<   e#   Compute the vectorized minimum.
             N  e#   Push a linefeed.

Since a space has a lower code point than the other characters of L and vectorized operators leave the characters of the longer string that do not correspond to one of the shorter one untouched, .e< replaces the first D characters with spaces.

\$\begingroup\$ This is brilliant. Nice work. \$\endgroup\$
– Alex A.
May 17, 2015 at 19:10 — Alex A., May 17, 2015 at 19:10

xnor · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-17 05:02:08Z

Python 2, 73

i=0
exec"k=max(7-i,i-24,0);print' '*k+('\__/  '*9)[i:][k:16-k];i+=3;"*11

See it run.

For each of the 11 output rows, computes the number of leading spaces k as a maximum of three linear functions that form the envelope of the left side of the hexagon. Because the diagonal lines have slope 3 and -3, it's better to index the row number as i=0,3,...30.

To create the hexagon mesh, we first tile enough of the unit '\__/ '. Then, shifting [i:] realigns it by 3 for odd rows. Finally, we take the needed portion [k:16-k] of it, leaving a margin of k on the left and right.

Dennis · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-24 03:11:06Z

CJam, 65 56 55 bytes

"Ý6TNð*¯5"303b4b["/\_")"_ "4*S]f=sB/z{_W%"\/"_W%erN}/

Try it online in the CJam interpreter.

Idea

The right half of each line is a reversed copy of the left half with slashes and backslashes swapped. Therefore, it suffices to encode the left half of the honeycomb:

       _
    __/ 
 __/  \_
/  \__/ 
\__/  \_
/  \__/ 
\__/  \_
/  \__/ 
\__/  \_
   \__/ 
      \_

Rather than analyzing this pattern line by line, we can analyze it column by column:

   /\/\/\  
  _ _ _ _  
  _ _ _ _  
  /\/\/\/\ 
 _ _ _ _ _ 
 _ _ _ _ _ 
 /\/\/\/\/\
_ _ _ _ _ _

Obvious patterns emerge:

The string _ _ _ _ occurs five times.
Every / is followed by a \.

By replacing every /\, _, _ _ _ _ and space with a number from 0 to 3, we can convert the resulting array from a base 4 number to a higher base and store the complete pattern in a compact fashion.

Code

"Ý6TNð*¯5"303b4b  e# Convert the string from base 303 to base 4.
["/\_")"_ "4*S]f= e# Replace each resulting digit by the corresponding item of the array
                  e# ["/\" "_" "_ _ _ _ " " "].
sB/               e# Split into strings of length 11.
z                 e# Zip: transpose rows with columns.
{             }/  e# For each string:
 _W%              e#     Push a reversed copy.
    "\/"_W%er     e#     Swap slashes and backslashes.
             N    e#     Push a linefeed.

Reto Koradi · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-17 14:55:10Z

C, 148 144 140 bytes

k,r,c,d,p;f(){for(;k<187;k++){r=k/17;c=k%17;d=c+r%2*3;p=3*r+c-7<33u&3*r-c+8<33u;putchar(c==16?10:p&(d+5)%6<2?95:p&d%6==3?47:!p|d%6?32:92);}}

With whitespace, without compiler warnings, and before some code tweaks to save a few bytes:

#include <stdio.h>

int k, r, c, d, p;

void f() {
    for ( ; k < 187; k++) {
        r = k / 17;
        c = k % 17;
        d = c + 3 * (r % 2);
        p = 3 * r + c - 7 < 33u && 3 * r - c + 8 < 33u;
        putchar(
            c == 16 ? 10 :
            p && (d + 5) % 6 < 2 ? 95 :
            p && d % 6 == 3 ? 47 :
            p && d % 6 == 0 ? 92 :
            32);
    }
}

This approach does not use any character/string tables. It loops over all 187 (11 rows, 17 columns including newlines), and decides which character to print for each position, based on a combination of conditions.

The conditions include a test for being inside/outside the 4 corners, using 4 line equations, with the result stored in variable p. The rest is then mostly repeating every 6 characters, with the odd rows shifted by 3 characters relative to the even rows.

For the golfed one, you could use implicit-int and drop the int . — luser droog, May 17, 2015 at 9:28
A few micro-improvements: k;f(r,c,d,p){for(;k<187;putchar(c>15?10:p&d<2&p?95:p&d<3?47:!p|d-5?32:92))r=k/17,c=k++%17,d=(5+c+r%2*3)%6,p=3*r+c-7<33u&3*r-c+8<33u;} — Dennis, May 17, 2015 at 21:29

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-04-13 12:39:17Z

7

Ruby - 78 Bytes

(-5..5).map{|i|puts' '*(j=[i.abs*3-i/6-9,0].max)+('/  \__'*4)[j+i%2*3,16-j*2]}

A transcription of xnor's solution (69 Bytes):

11.times{|i|puts' '*(j=[7-i*=3,i-24,0].max)+('\__/  '*9)[i+j,16-j*2]}

edited Apr 13, 2017 at 12:39

CommunityBot

1

answered May 17, 2015 at 5:55

primo

33.1k5 gold badges58 silver badges136 bronze badges

1

\$\begingroup\$ 11.times saves 2 bytes \$\endgroup\$
– Mitch Schwartz
Jun 17, 2015 at 20:28

Add a comment |

edc65 · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-17 17:48:50Z

6

JavaScript (ES6), 129 130

That's a pure string replace/replace/replace ... not taking advantage of any geometric property.

Using template strings, all newlines are significant and count.

Run snippet in Firefox to test

f=_=>`70
405
 055
9992 3051
6301`[R='replace'](/9/g,`55123
30551
`)[R](/5/g,1230)[R](/\d/g,n=>['__','/',,'\\'][n]||' '.repeat(n))

// TEST

O.innerHTML = f()

<pre id=O></pre>

edited May 17, 2015 at 17:48

answered May 17, 2015 at 10:35

edc65

32k3 gold badges34 silver badges89 bronze badges

Add a comment |

Timo · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-18 12:31:46Z

6

PHP - 139 137 107 101 91 87 bytes

I don't know if this is the best way to golf it but here is my try at it:

30 36 46 -50 bytes thanks to Ismael Miguel

Test it online here

<?='       __
    __',$a='/  \__',"
 __$a$a
",$c="$a$a/  \
\__$a$a/
","$c$c   \__$a/
      \__/";

<script src="http://ideone.com/e.js/WHWEZS" type="text/javascript" ></script>

old code:

<?php $a="/  \\__";$c=$a.$a."/  \\\n\__".$a.$a."/\n";echo "       __\n    __".$a."\n __".$a,$a."\n".$c,$c,$c."   \\__".$a."/\n      \\__/";

edited May 18, 2015 at 12:31

answered May 18, 2015 at 7:15

Timo

1815 bronze badges

\$\begingroup\$ Welcome to Programming Puzzles and Code Golf. Your PHP code can be reduced a lot more. You can use <? instead of <?php to save 3 bytes. Instead of $c=$a.$a."/ \\\n\__".$a.$a."/\n";, you can write $c="$a$a/ \\\n\__.$a$a/\n"; (since PHP expands variables in strings). You can apply the same logic to the echo to further reduce it's length. Also, you don't need that space between the echo and the string. \$\endgroup\$
– Ismael Miguel
May 18, 2015 at 9:09
1

\$\begingroup\$ Thank you, I learn something new every time I try to golf hehe. \$\endgroup\$
– Timo
May 18, 2015 at 9:16
\$\begingroup\$ You are welcome. Here is a 99-byte long solution: ideone.com/WHWEZS. It looks a mess, but it is a lot shorter. Instead of using \n, you can put a real newline and save 1 byte per line. \$\endgroup\$
– Ismael Miguel
May 18, 2015 at 9:17
\$\begingroup\$ Meanwhile, I've reduced it 2 bytes. Now it has 97 bytes. \$\endgroup\$
– Ismael Miguel
May 18, 2015 at 9:24
1

\$\begingroup\$ Here is a one-liner: <?="\t __\n\t__",$a='/ \__',"\n __$a$a\n",$c="$a$a/ \\\n\__$a$a/\n","$c$c \__$a/\n\t \__/";. Remember to replace the \t with a tab character and \n with a real newline. \$\endgroup\$
– Ismael Miguel
May 18, 2015 at 9:44

| Show 3 more comments

Community · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-17 09:04:33Z

4

Lua 146

T="       __\n    __/  \\__\n __/  \\__/  \\__\n"
S="/  \\__/  \\__/  \\\n\\__/  \\__/  \\__/\n"
B="   \\__/  \\__/\n      \\__/"
io.write(T,S,S,S,B)

(newlines added for clarity)

edited Jun 17, 2020 at 9:04

CommunityBot

1

answered May 17, 2015 at 2:52

Kyle Kanos

4,3322 gold badges18 silver badges31 bronze badges

1

\$\begingroup\$ Isn't this code longer than the desired output because it just contains the output plus escaping and string handling stuff? \$\endgroup\$
– Caleb
May 17, 2015 at 17:32
6

\$\begingroup\$ @Caleb: I suspect you've not actually counted & just guessed in making that comment. According to my text editor, there are 165 characters in the lattice (newlines included). I have 19 less characters due to repeating S three times. \$\endgroup\$
– Kyle Kanos
May 17, 2015 at 17:45
2

\$\begingroup\$ But you are correct that the escapes and newlines do limit my code's ability to compete in this particular game. But winning also isn't why I do this, it's for the fun & learning. \$\endgroup\$
– Kyle Kanos
May 17, 2015 at 17:50

Add a comment |

lrn · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-17 14:01:53Z

3

Dart - 113

main({r:"/  \\__"}){print("       __\n    __$r\n __$r$r\n${"$r$r/  \\\n\\__$r$r/\n"*3}   \\__$r/\n      \\__/");}

Pure string-interpolation solution, nothing fancy. String operations like "substring" are too verbose to compete in practice.

Run it on DartPad.

answered May 17, 2015 at 14:01

lrn

5813 silver badges7 bronze badges

Add a comment |

Matty · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-23 10:11:46Z

Python 3, 100 87 bytes

n=0x85208e08e08dd445
while n:l=n>>2&15;print(' '*(8-l)+('\__/  '*4)[n&3:n&3|l*2]);n>>=6

And a readable version of the code below. The idea is to hardcode the intervals (begin, length) and then pad with the correct amount of spaces to center the interval.

hexagon_string = '\__/  ' * 4
for i in range(11):
    # Pick the begin and length of the i-th interval using hardcoded numbers
    b = (0x00030303111 >> 4*i) & 3   # n is a combination of these two numbers
    l = (0x25888888741 >> 4*i) & 15  #
    # Print the interval with appropriate whitespace in front of it
    spaces = ' ' * (8-l)
    print(spaces + hexagon_string[b : b+l*2])

nderscore · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-28 03:48:05Z

3

Javascript (ES7 Draft), 96 94 93 bytes

Inspiration taken from a few solutions here...

Edit: -1 from edc65

f=z=>[for(x of[741e6]+36)' '.repeat(x)+'/  \\__'.repeat(4,z^=3).slice(+x+z,16-x+z)].join(`
`)

// For snippet demo:
document.write('<pre>'+f()+'</pre>');

Commented:

f=z=>[                                 
        for(x of [741e6] + 36)        // for each character "x" in "74100000036"
            ' '.repeat(x) +           // x spaces
            '/  \\__'.repeat(4,       // build pattern string
            z ^= 3).                  // toggle z offset (3) for even lines
            slice(+x + z, 16 - x + z) // get appropriate substring
    ].join(`                          // join with newlines
    `)

edited May 28, 2015 at 3:48

answered May 17, 2015 at 23:09

nderscore

4,97014 silver badges38 bronze badges

\$\begingroup\$ Nice one. .substr(+x+z,16-x-x) -> .slice(+x+z,16-x+z) -1 \$\endgroup\$
– edc65
May 18, 2015 at 5:12
\$\begingroup\$ @edc65 nice catch! \$\endgroup\$
– nderscore
May 18, 2015 at 5:19
\$\begingroup\$ Quick question: Why is it +x instead of just x? \$\endgroup\$
– anon
May 19, 2015 at 0:37
1

\$\begingroup\$ @QPaysTaxes It's to cast x to a number. Without it, it would concatenate z \$\endgroup\$
– nderscore
May 19, 2015 at 0:50

Add a comment |

randomra · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-28 04:18:04Z

Retina, 66 bytes

<empty line>
sss __<LF>ssa__<LF> aa__<LF>lll dau<LF>ssdu
l
/daa<LF>\aau<LF>
a
ud
u
__/
d
s\
s

Each line should go to its own file and <LF> means actual newline in the file. 1 byte per extra file added to byte-count.

You can run the code as one file with the -s flag, keeping the <LF> markers and maybe changing them to newlines in the output for readability if you wish.

The algorithm is 5 simple substitute steps (change odd line content to even line content) starting from an empty input string. The results after each steps are (delimited by ='s):

sss __
ssa__
 aa__
lll dau
ssdu
============
sss __
ssa__
 aa__
/daa
\aau
/daa
\aau
/daa
\aau
 dau
ssdu
============
sss __
ssud__
 udud__
/dudud
\ududu
/dudud
\ududu
/dudud
\ududu
 dudu
ssdu
============
sss __
ss__/d__
 __/d__/d__
/d__/d__/d
\__/d__/d__/
/d__/d__/d
\__/d__/d__/
/d__/d__/d
\__/d__/d__/
 d__/d__/
ssd__/
============
sss __
ss__/s\__
 __/s\__/s\__
/s\__/s\__/s\
\__/s\__/s\__/
/s\__/s\__/s\
\__/s\__/s\__/
/s\__/s\__/s\
\__/s\__/s\__/
 s\__/s\__/
sss\__/
============
       __
    __/  \__
 __/  \__/  \__
/  \__/  \__/  \
\__/  \__/  \__/
/  \__/  \__/  \
\__/  \__/  \__/
/  \__/  \__/  \
\__/  \__/  \__/
   \__/  \__/
      \__/

SuperJedi224 · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-18 13:51:30Z

1

Javascript, 154 151 bytes

b="\n",c="\t",d="/  \\",f="__",g="\\",h="/",a=f+d,j=a+a,i=d+j+b+g+j+f+h+b,k="   ";console.log(c+k+f+b+c+a+f+b+" "+j+f+b+i+i+i+k+g+a+f+h+b+c+"  "+g+f+h)

edited May 18, 2015 at 13:51

answered May 18, 2015 at 12:23

SuperJedi224

11.9k1 gold badge44 silver badges66 bronze badges

Add a comment |

Stack Exchange Network

Me Want Honeycomb

13 Answers 13

CJam, 45 43 42 41 40 bytes

How it works

Python 2, 73

CJam, 65 56 55 bytes

Idea

Code

C, 148 144 140 bytes

Ruby - 78 Bytes

JavaScript (ES6), 129 130

PHP - 139 137 107 101 91 87 bytes

Lua 146

Dart - 113

Python 3, 100 87 bytes

Javascript (ES7 Draft), 96 94 93 bytes

Retina, 66 bytes

Javascript, 154 151 bytes

Your Answer

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

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Me Want Honeycomb

13 Answers 13

CJam, 45 43 42 41 40 bytes

How it works

Python 2, 73

CJam, 65 56 55 bytes

Idea

Code

C, 148 144 140 bytes

Ruby - 78 Bytes

JavaScript (ES6), 129 130

PHP - 139 137 107 101 91 87 bytes

Lua 146

Dart - 113

Python 3, 100 87 bytes

Javascript (ES7 Draft), 96 94 93 bytes

Retina, 66 bytes

Javascript, 154 151 bytes

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged code-golfascii-artkolmogorov-complexitytilinghexagonal-grid or ask your own question.

Linked

Related

Hot Network Questions

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