30
\$\begingroup\$

Special Independence Day (USA) themed challenge for you today. You must write a program that prints this ascii-art representation of The American Flag.

0
|---------------------------------------------------------
| *   *   *   *   *   * #################################|
|   *   *   *   *   *                                    |
| *   *   *   *   *   *                                  |
|   *   *   *   *   *   #################################|
| *   *   *   *   *   *                                  |
|   *   *   *   *   *                                    |
| *   *   *   *   *   * #################################|
|   *   *   *   *   *                                    |
| *   *   *   *   *   *                                  |
|########################################################|
|                                                        |
|                                                        |
|########################################################|
|                                                        |
|                                                        |
|########################################################|
|                                                        |
|                                                        |
|########################################################|
|---------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Trailing spaces on each line, as well as one trailing newline, are allowed.

Note that this isn't quite the way the flag should look, but it's the closest I could get with ASCII.

As usual, this is so standard loopholes apply and shortest answer in bytes wins!

\$\endgroup\$
9
  • \$\begingroup\$ Is trailing whitespace allowed? \$\endgroup\$
    – Dennis
    Jul 4, 2015 at 17:04
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Dennis as long as it's not excessive I don't see why not. So one trailing newline is OK. \$\endgroup\$
    – DJMcMayhem
    Jul 4, 2015 at 17:23
  • 9
    \$\begingroup\$ I would make this a pop-contest and see who prints the most realistic flag. \$\endgroup\$
    – user10766
    Jul 4, 2015 at 19:08
  • 7
    \$\begingroup\$ @Hosch250 That would end up closed as "art contest" \$\endgroup\$
    – Sp3000
    Jul 4, 2015 at 19:09
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ @steveverrill Yes, but we could draw a flag rippling in the breeze, perhaps. \$\endgroup\$
    – user10766
    Jul 4, 2015 at 23:21

8 Answers 8

27
\$\begingroup\$

Python 2, 113 bytes

for i in range(38):print i and"|"+["-"*57,(" *  "*7)[i%2*2:][:(i<11)*23].ljust(56,"  #"[i%3])+"|"][1<i<21]*(i<22)

String slicing and modulo checks galore.

\$\endgroup\$
3
  • \$\begingroup\$ +1 Very impressive, 7 bytes ahead of my ruby answer. Both you and EDC65 were ahead of Dennis at one time? wow! \$\endgroup\$ Jul 4, 2015 at 19:16
  • 12
    \$\begingroup\$ A python answer that is competing with a cjam answer. What a time to be alive! \$\endgroup\$
    – DJMcMayhem
    Jul 4, 2015 at 19:19
  • 3
    \$\begingroup\$ I like how the value i=0 is itself being printed. \$\endgroup\$
    – xnor
    Jul 5, 2015 at 8:37
21
\$\begingroup\$

CJam, 184 120 109 101 76 74 69 67 64 62 58 bytes

0'-57*"  #"56f*'|f+7*2>" *  "50*22/W<Sf+..e&~J$]N'|+a37*.+

Try it online in the CJam interpreter.

Idea

The most interesting part of the flag is the stars and stripes pattern.

If we repeat two spaces and a number sign 56 times and append a vertical bar to each, we get

                                                         |
                                                         |
#########################################################|

Repeating this pattern 7 times and discarding the first two lines, we obtain the stripes:

#########################################################|
                                                         |
                                                         |
#########################################################|
                                                         |
                                                         |
#########################################################|
                                                         |
                                                         |
#########################################################|
                                                         |
                                                         |
#########################################################|
                                                         |
                                                         |
#########################################################|
                                                         |
                                                         |
#########################################################|

Now, if we repeat the string " * " 50 times and split the result into chunks of length 22, we obtain the stars:

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

The whitespace is a little off, but we can fix that by eliminating the last chunk and appending a space to the remaining ones.

Now, if we superimpose stripes and stars, we get

 *   *   *   *   *   * #################################|
   *   *   *   *   *                                    |
 *   *   *   *   *   *                                  |
   *   *   *   *   *   #################################|
 *   *   *   *   *   *                                  |
   *   *   *   *   *                                    |
 *   *   *   *   *   * #################################|
   *   *   *   *   *                                    |
 *   *   *   *   *   *                                  |
########################################################|
                                                        |
                                                        |
########################################################|
                                                        |
                                                        |
########################################################|
                                                        |
                                                        |
########################################################|

All that's left to do is adding two lines of 57 dashes, adding a column of 37 vertical bars and putting the cherry on top.

Code

0         e# Push a zero.
'-57*     e# Push a string of 57 dashes.
"  #"56f* e# Repeat each character in the string 56 times.
'|f+      e# Append a vertical bar to each resulting string.
7*        e# Repeat the resulting array of strings 7 times.
2>        e# Discard the first two strings.
" *  "50* e# Repeat the string 50 times.
22/       e# Split the result into chunks of length 22.
W<        e# Discard the last, partial chunk.
Sf*       e# Append a space to each chunk.
..e&      e# Twofold vectorized logical AND.
          e# Since all characters in the strings are truthy, this always selects
          e# the second character, painting the stars over the stripes.
~         e# Dump all resulting strings on the stack.
J$        e# Copy the string of dashes.

]         e# Wrap the entire stack in an array.
N'|+a37*  e# Repeat ["\n|"] 37 times.
.+        e# Perform vectorized concatenation.
\$\endgroup\$
6
  • 14
    \$\begingroup\$ For a very short, magic moment I was beating you \$\endgroup\$
    – edc65
    Jul 4, 2015 at 18:35
  • 2
    \$\begingroup\$ It ain't every day you see someone write a CJam program 120 bytes too long. \$\endgroup\$
    – lirtosiast
    Jul 4, 2015 at 21:30
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ What I like best is how you found a way to have 6 stars on each line, then naturally get rid of the ones you didn't want. \$\endgroup\$ Jul 4, 2015 at 23:24
  • \$\begingroup\$ @steveverrill: I liked that too, but I found something shorter... \$\endgroup\$
    – Dennis
    Jul 5, 2015 at 4:44
  • \$\begingroup\$ Cool! (You did something similar with the honeycomb didn't you?) But now you need to revise the superimposed image in your explanation. \$\endgroup\$ Jul 5, 2015 at 4:50
9
\$\begingroup\$

Brainf**k, 3355 3113 1598 1178 782 bytes

What is this language?

Here is the hand optimized version featuring 28 loops. I think I've taken this about as far as it will go.

Here's the run at ideone.com:

+++[>++++<-]>[>+++>+++>+++>++++++++++>+>++++<<<<<<-]>++++++>---->->>>.<--.
<++++.>>---.>+++++++[<........>-]<<.
<.<<<<+++++[>>.<.>..<<-]>>.<.>.<<++++[>>>........<<<-]>>>.>.>.
<.<<<<+++++[>>...<.<-]+++++[>>.......<<-]>>.>>.>.
<.<<<<++++++[>>.<.>..<<-]++++[>>........<<-]>>>>.>.
<.<<...<<+++++[>.>...<<-]++++[>>>........<<<-]>>>.>.>.
<.<<<<++++++[>>.<.>..<<-]++++[>>........<<-]>>>>.>.
<.<<<<+++++[>>...<.<-]+++++[>>.......<<-]>>.>>.>.
<.<<<<+++++[>>.<.>..<<-]>>.<.>.<<++++[>>>........<<<-]>>>.>.>.
<.<<<<+++++[>>...<.<-]+++++[>>.......<<-]>>.>>.>.
<.<<<<++++++[>>.<.>..<<-]++++[>>........<<-]>>>>.>.
>>>+++[<<<
<.>>>+++++++[<<<<........>>>>-]<<<.>.
>>++[<<
<.<<<<+++++++[>>........<<-]>>>>.>.
>>-]<<
>>>-]<<<
<.>>>+++++++[<<<<........>>>>-]<<<.>.
<.>>.>+++++++[<........>-]<<.
>>++++++++[<<<.>.<.>.>>-]

How does this work?

 1: +++[>++++<-]>[>+++>+++>+++>++++++++++>+>++++<<<<<<-]>++++++>---->->>>.<--.
 2: <++++.>>---.>+++++++[<........>-]<<.
 3: <.<<<<+++++[>>.<.>..<<-]>>.<.>.<<++++[>>>........<<<-]>>>.>.>.
 4: <.<<<<+++++[>>...<.<-]+++++[>>.......<<-]>>.>>.>.
 5: <.<<<<++++++[>>.<.>..<<-]++++[>>........<<-]>>>>.>.
 6: <.<<...<<+++++[>.>...<<-]++++[>>>........<<<-]>>>.>.>.
 7: <.<<<<++++++[>>.<.>..<<-]++++[>>........<<-]>>>>.>.
 8: <.<<<<+++++[>>...<.<-]+++++[>>.......<<-]>>.>>.>.
 9: <.<<<<+++++[>>.<.>..<<-]>>.<.>.<<++++[>>>........<<<-]>>>.>.>.
10: <.<<<<+++++[>>...<.<-]+++++[>>.......<<-]>>.>>.>.
11: <.<<<<++++++[>>.<.>..<<-]++++[>>........<<-]>>>>.>.
12: >>>+++[<<<
13: <.>>>+++++++[<<<<........>>>>-]<<<.>.
14: >>++[<<
15: <.<<<<+++++++[>>........<<-]>>>>.>.
16: >>-]<<
17: >>>-]<<<
18: <.>>>+++++++[<<<<........>>>>-]<<<.>.
19: <.>>.>+++++++[<........>-]<<.
20: >>++++++++[<<<.>.<.>.>>-]

This program uses 10 memory locations:

0: loop counter #1
1: loop counter #2
2: "*"  ASCII 42
3: spc  ASCII 32
4: "#"  ASCII 35
5: "|"  ASCII 124
6: "\n" ASCII 10
7: "0"  ASCII 48, "-"  ASCII 45
8: loop counter #3
9: loop counter #4

Line 1

  • This line sets up the ASCII characters in registers 2 through 7 (mostly). Some tweaking is done later.
  • This code first puts 3 in register 0, and then loops 3 times incrementing register 1 four times each loop: +++[>++++<-]. Then end result is that register 0 is 0, and register 1 is 12.
  • The 12 is used as the loop counter for the next loop. For 12 times through the loop, registers 2, 3, and 4 are incremented 3 times, register 5 is incremented 10 times, register 6 is incremented 1 time, and register 7 is incremented 4 times. At the end of this loop, they contain: R2(36), R3(36), R4(36), R5(120), R6(12), R7(48). After the loop register 2 is incremented 6 times, register 3 is decremented 4 times, and register 4 is decremented once. At this point, the values are: R2(42), R3(32), R4(35), R5(120), R6(12), R7(48). All but registers 5 and 6 contain their initial ASCII values.
  • Next register 7 is output, the "0" at the top of the flag!
  • Next register 6 is decremented twice to 10 (ASCII newline) and output. Done with the first line of the flag!

Line 2

  • First it increments register 5 by 4 which makes it "|" (ASCII 124) and outputs it.
  • Then it decrements register 7 by three changing it from "0" (ASCII 48) into "-" (ASCII 45) and outputs it.
  • Next it puts 7 into loop counter 3 (register 8) and loops 7 times, writing out 8 dashes each time for a total of 7*8 = 56 dashes.
  • Finally it ends by outputting a newline.

Line 3

  • This line contains two loops.
  • The first loop writes " * " 5 times.
  • Then " * " is written
  • The second loop loops 4 times writing 8 "#" for a total of 32.
  • Then "#", "|", and "\n" are written.

Lines 4 - 11

  • These lines use the same technique as line 3 to write out the stars and stripes of the flag.

Line 12

  • This line starts a loop that runs 3 times.
  • The loop ends at line 17.

Line 13

  • Writes a strip that goes across the flag.
  • Uses a loop that runs 7 times writing "#" 8 times each time through the loop.

Line 14

  • The start of a loop that runs 2 times.

Line 15

  • Writes a strip that goes across the flag.
  • Uses a loop that runs 7 times writing " " 8 times each time through the loop.

Line 16

  • End of inner loop that started at line 14.

Line 17

  • End of outer loop that started at line 13.

Line 18

  • Draws bottom stripe of flag.

Line 19

  • Draws bottom border of flag.

Line 20

  • Draws the flagpole.
  • Loops 8 times, writing "|" and newline twice each time through the loop.
\$\endgroup\$
2
  • 2
    \$\begingroup\$ You actually managed to compress the flag! I hope you'll post an explanation when you're done golfing. I'd very much like to know how this works. \$\endgroup\$
    – Dennis
    Jul 8, 2015 at 23:52
  • \$\begingroup\$ I will post an explanation. I'm still golfing! \$\endgroup\$
    – vacawama
    Jul 8, 2015 at 23:53
8
\$\begingroup\$

JavaScript (ES6), 153 156

Using template string, there is 1 newline that is significant and counted

Test running the snippet below (being EcmaScript 6, Firefox only)

// TEST - Just for testing purpose,redefine console.log

console.log = (...x) => O.innerHTML += x+'\n'

// SOLUTION

o=[0];for(o[r=1]=o[21]='-'[R='repeat'](57);++r<21;o[r]=" *  "[R](7).substr(r%2*2,r<11&&23)+'  #'[r%3][R](r<11?33:56)+'|')o[37]='';console.log(o.join`
|`)
<pre id=O></pre>

To be even more patriotic, here is the EcmaScript 5 version

// TEST - Just for testing purpose,redfine console.log

console.log = function(x){ O.innerHTML += x+'\n' }

// SOLUTION - 175 bytes

for(o=(A=Array)(38),o[0]=0,r=2;r<21;r++)o[r]=A(8)[J='join'](" *  ").substr((r&1)*2,r<11?23:0)+A(r<11?34:57)[J]('  #'[r%3])+'|';
o[1]=o[r]=A(58)[J]('-'),console.log(o[J]('\n|'))
<pre id=O></pre>

\$\endgroup\$
1
  • 4
    \$\begingroup\$ +1 for calling ES5 more patriotic \$\endgroup\$
    – Pete TNT
    Jul 6, 2015 at 6:55
7
\$\begingroup\$

///: 225 characters

/D/ddd//d/--------//H/hhh//h/########//S/sss//s/        //A/aaaaa//a/ *  //b/|HHh|
|SSs|
|SSs|
//p/|
|
|
|
/0
|DDd-
|A * Hh#|
|  A Ss |
|A * Ss |
|  A Hh#|
|A * Ss |
|  A Ss |
|A * Hh#|
|  A Ss |
|A * Ss |
bbb|HHh|
|DDd-
pppp
\$\endgroup\$
6
\$\begingroup\$

Ruby, 104 102 bytes

Using ideas from ManAtWork's Ruby answer with permission.

puts 0,s=?|+?-*57,(0..18).map{|i|?|+("#  "[i%3]*(i>8?56:33)).rjust(56," *   *"[i%2*2,4])+?|},s,'|
'*16

Ruby, 127 121 112 bytes

Changed quotes to ? used array instead of conditional for stripe colour. used conditional instead of formula for stripe length.

puts 0,s=?|+?-*57
19.times{|i|puts ?|+("#  "[i%3]*(i>8?56:33)).rjust(56,i%2>0?"   *":" *  ")+?|}
puts s,"|\n"*16

The trick here is to draw the stripes (both red/# and white/space) to the correct length, then right justify them, padding with stars. Ruby's rjust allows us to specify the padding string, which alternates between " * " and " *".

Original version, 127 bytes

puts 0,s="|"+"-"*57
19.times{|i|puts("|"+((i%3>0?" ":"#")*((i+1)/10*23+33)).rjust(56,i%2>0?"   *":" *  ")+"|")}
puts s,"|\n"*16
\$\endgroup\$
3
  • \$\begingroup\$ Oops, I forgot to reload the page before checking whether a Ruby answer already exists. As my answer is not significantly different, I deleted it. Feel free to use any good part you may find in it. \$\endgroup\$
    – manatwork
    Jul 4, 2015 at 19:39
  • \$\begingroup\$ @manatwork I don't see that you needed to delete it, it was shorter than mine and I'd already upvoted it. There were some Ruby tricks in there I didn't know, I'm new to ruby. I'm down to 104 using the best of both answers, which is the shortest answer in a conventional language. I don't understand why I can use the map in the middle of the puts but I can't use it on its own, even if i surround it with brackets: puts((0.18).map{}). If you see any further improvements either let me know, or undelete your own answer and post it there. \$\endgroup\$ Jul 4, 2015 at 20:13
  • \$\begingroup\$ I'm impressed that Ruby rjust can take a string and not just a char. Too bad Python can't do that... \$\endgroup\$
    – Sp3000
    Jul 5, 2015 at 7:22
3
\$\begingroup\$

SWI-Prolog, 275 bytes

In a language of French origin, which is kind of fitting

a:-put(48),nl,b,c(0).
b:-z,w(-,57).
c(I):-nl,I=36;J is I+1,(I=19,b,c(J);I>19,z,c(J);I>8,z,(I mod 3=:=0,w(#,56);tab(56)),z,c(J);z,(I mod 2=:=0,tab(1),w('*   ',5),put(42),tab(1);w('   *',5),tab(3)),(0=:=I mod 3,w(#,33);tab(33)),z,c(J)).
z:-put(124).
w(A,B):-writef('%r',[A,B]).

See the result here

\$\endgroup\$
2
  • \$\begingroup\$ I hate to break an existing answer, but the first version had 11 stripes instead of 13. I didn't change anything else. You can check the edit history to see what I changed. Sorry about that. \$\endgroup\$
    – DJMcMayhem
    Jul 4, 2015 at 17:59
  • \$\begingroup\$ @DJMcMayhem Fixed, only needed to change two numbers and didnt change the length of the answer, so it's all good \$\endgroup\$
    – Fatalize
    Jul 4, 2015 at 18:02
1
\$\begingroup\$

C, 235 211 208 205 203 198 197 186 bytes

i;x(){for(puts("0");i<37;i++){char b[58]="";i<21?memset(b,i%20?i%3&1?35:32:45,56),i&&i<10?memcpy(b," *   *   *   *   *   *   "+(i%2?0:2),23):0,b[56]=i%20?124:45:0;printf("|%.57s\n",b);}}

edit: added some of Cool Guy's suggestions and made use of ?: to replace some if statements.

edit: removed overflow \0 prevention and used string length limiter in printf instead.

edit: reworked both memset conditionals.

edit: moved puts("0") inside the for header to remove its semicolon.

edit: slight refactoring to get 11 more bytes.

\$\endgroup\$
6
  • \$\begingroup\$ Good first attempt. But this does not seem to print the | at the start of every line... \$\endgroup\$
    – Spikatrix
    Jul 6, 2015 at 7:39
  • \$\begingroup\$ Your code in 198 bytes:i;c(){puts("0");for(;i<37;i++){char b[58]="|";if(i<21){memset(b,!((i-1)%3)?35:32,56);if(i<10)memcpy(b," * * * * * * "+((i%2)?0:2),23);b[56]='|';}if(!i||i==20){memset(b,45,57);}puts(b);}} \$\endgroup\$
    – Spikatrix
    Jul 6, 2015 at 8:03
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Cool Guy: Thanks for the catch. I forgot to move the '|' back to the second printf from the initializer. I tried running your code using GCC under Cygwin, but the formatting is off. Is there anything special I need to do to run it or any flags needed at compile time? \$\endgroup\$
    – openaddr
    Jul 6, 2015 at 8:17
  • \$\begingroup\$ No special flags required. Test it here Golf it more by using 45 instead of '-' and 35 instead of '#' and 32 instead of ' ' \$\endgroup\$
    – Spikatrix
    Jul 6, 2015 at 8:23
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Cool Guy: Good suggestion on the character encoding values. And good catch on the i==0 I overlooked. I think your initial code wasn't working because of the second puts(), but that was partially my fault because by forgetting to change the "|"'s position back, it made it seem like the buffer contained the entire string. The code in the link you provided using the printf at the end does work now. \$\endgroup\$
    – openaddr
    Jul 6, 2015 at 9:04

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