# Rosetta Stone Challenge: Find the rule for a series

The goal of a Rosetta Stone Challenge is to write solutions in as many languages as possible. Show off your programming multilingualism!

# The Challenge

Your challenge is to implement a program that will input a list of numbers and output the rule used to generate each successive number in the series, in as many programming languages as possible. You are allowed to use any sort of standard library function that your language has, since this is mostly a language showcase.

## What is a "series?"

A series is an ordered list of integers. Each successive number in the series can be generated by applying a simple rule to the previous number in the series. In this challenge, the rule consists of multiplying the number by a constant, and then adding a second constant. Both of the constants can be any integer. The goal of this challenge is to output those two constants.

For the series 2 5 11, the rule can be written as 2 1. This means that each number is the previous number, times 2, plus 1. An important fact is that most series have exactly one rule. Some series have either an infinite number or none at all, but you will not have to deal with this.

## Input

Input will be a list of three different integers which are the numbers in the sequence. The numbers can be either space, comma, or newline delimited, but please specify which. I am going to be flexible on this limitation because certain languages may have input restrictions. Here are four examples of input:

0 7 14
2 5 11
2 0 -4
5 -19  77


## Output

Output will be two integers which represent the rule used to generate the series. The first number will be the multiplicative constant, while the second number will be the additive constant. The formatting of the output can be space, comma, or newline delimited. I am flexible on this limitation as well. Here are the corresponding examples of output:

1 7
2 1
2 -4
-4 1


# The Objective Winning Criterion

As for an objective winning criterion, here it is: Each language is a separate competition as to who can write the shortest entry, but the overall winner would be the person who wins the most of these sub-competitions. This means that a person who answers in many uncommon languages can gain an advantage. Code-golf is mostly a tiebreaker for when there is more than one solution in a language: the person with the shortest program gets credit for that language.

## Rules, Restrictions, and Notes

Your program can be written in any language that existed prior to April 9th, 2012. I will also have to rely on the community to validate some responses written in some of the more uncommon/esoteric languages, since I am unlikely to be able to test them.

This section will be periodically updated to show the number of languages and who is leading in each.

• AWK (32) - mellamokb
• bash (31) - Peter Taylor
• Befunge (29) - Howard
• bc (39) - kernigh
• brainfuck (174) - CMP
• C (78) - l0n3_shArk
• C++ (96) - leftaroundabout
• Common Lisp (88) - kernigh
• Cray Chapel (59) - Kyle Kanos
• csh (86) - kernigh
• Cuda (301) - leftaroundabout
• dc (30) - kernigh
• DOS BATCH (54) - mellamokb
• Element (27) - Howard
• es (95) - kernigh
• Factor (138) - kernigh
• Felix (86) - kirbyfan64sos
• Fortran (44) - Kyle Kanos
• Go (101) - Howard
• GolfScript (16) - Howard
• Golflua (44) - Kyle Kanos
• J (23) - Gareth
• Java (141) - Howard
• JavaScript (47) - mellamokb
• Julia (71) - M L
• Lua (51) - Howard
• Mercury (319) - leftaroundabout
• MoonScript (48) - kirbyfan64sos
• Nimrod (146) - leftaroundabout
• Owl (22) - r.e.s.
• Pascal (88) - leftaroundabout
• Perl (57) - Gareth
• PHP (61) - mellamokb
• PicoLisp (72) - kernigh
• Piet (56) - M L
• PostScript (61) - Howard
• Python (40) - Howard
• Q (36) - tmartin
• QBasic (34) - mellamokb
• R (50) - r.e.s.
• Ruby (44) - Howard
• Scala (102) - Gareth
• SQL (57) - Aman ZeeK Verma
• TI-83 BASIC (25) - mellamokb
• Unlimited Register Machine (285) - Paxinum
• VBA (57) - Gaffi
• Whitespace (123) - r.e.s.
• zsh (62) - kernigh

# Current User Rankings

Equal ranks are sorted alphabetically.

1. Howard (9): Befunge (29), Element (27), Go (101), GolfScript (16), Java (141), Lua (51), PostScript, (61) Python, (40) Ruby (44)

2. kernigh (8): bc (39), Common Lisp (88), csh (86), dc (30), es (95), Factor (138), PicoLisp (72), zsh (62)

3. leftroundabout (6): C++ (96), Cuda (301), Haskell (35), Mercury (319), Nimrod (146), Pascal (88)

4. mellamokb (6): AWK (32), DOS BATCH (54), JavaScript (47), PHP (61), QBasic (34), TI-83 BASIC (41)

5. Gareth (3): J (23), Perl (57), Scala (102)

6. Kyle Kanos (3): Cray Chapel (59), Fortran (44), Golflua (44)

7. r.e.s. (3): Owl (22), R (50), Whitespace (123)

8. kirbyfan64sos (2): Felix (86), MoonScript (48)

9. M L (2): Julia (71), Piet (56)

10. Aman Zeek verma (1): SQL (57)

11. CMP (1): brainfuck (174)

12. Gaffi (1): VBA (57)

13. l0n3_shArk (1): C (78)

14. Paxinum (1): Unlimited Register Machine (285)

15. Peter Taylor (1): bash (31)

16. tmartin (1): Q (36)

• It doesn't look like people actually read the tags, or other descriptions... – ceased to turn counterclockwis Apr 9 '12 at 17:35
• @leftaroundabout: Why do you say that? I am aware (for instance) that my solution doesn't take array input and plan to fix it later. And I'm too lazy to post more than one solution at the moment :) According to the Object Winning Criterio, code-golf is the tie-breaker for two posts with the same language, hence I've included the character count for easy reference in case someone else posts a JavaScript solution. This may in fact be one of those rare moments when a question deserves both the code-golf and code-challenge tags. – mellamokb Apr 9 '12 at 17:36
• Yeah, you're right: someone has to do the not-unusual languages as well. – ceased to turn counterclockwis Apr 9 '12 at 18:02
• As long as you keep the Current Leaderboard in the same standard format as above, you can use this to generate each user's scores: jsfiddle.net/bk2WM/2 – mellamokb Apr 10 '12 at 14:43
• My newest version (jsfiddle.net/bk2WM/4) provides a raw output (in the textarea) you can copy/paste into a post, and formats it like I did in my post. Feel free to change/play with the layout. – mellamokb Apr 11 '12 at 14:26

## AWK (32)

{m=$3-$2;print m/=$2-$1,$2-$1*m}


## bash (38)

awk '{m=$3-$2;print m/=$2-$1,$2-$1*m}'


## DOS/BATCH (54 55)

set/a m=(%3-%2)/(%2-%1)&set/a n=%2-%m%*%1&echo %m% %n%


Takes parameters as space-separated list of arguments.

## Java (143 185)

enum R{R;{int a=0,b=0,c,i=2;for(;(c=new java.util.Scanner(System.in).nextInt()+b*--i)+i>=c;b=c)a+=c*i;c/=b-a;System.out.print(c+" "+(b-a*c));}}

## JavaScript (48 6167)

p=prompt;m=p(b=p(a=p()))-b;alert([m/=b-a,b-a*m])


​ Demo: http://jsfiddle.net/BT8bB/6/

## PHP (61 77)

<?list(,$a,$b,$c)=$argv;$c-=$b;echo($c/=$b-$a).' '.$b-=$c*$a;


## QBasic (34)

INPUT a,b,c
m=(c-b)/(b-a)
?m;b-m*a


## TI-83 Basic (25 41)

:Prompt A,B,C
:(C-B)/(B-A
:Disp Ans,B-AAns


Yes, the missing right parenthesis is on purpose. It's a well-known optimization technique that closing the parentheses before a STO operation is not necessary in TI-83 Basic programming.

• The JS one doesn't work for me in Firefox - I get an error that p is undefined. Does the JS spec say that function arguments should be evaluated before the function is resolved? – Peter Taylor Apr 12 '12 at 14:26
• Hmm. Yes you are correct. According to the spec, it should not work, as explained in this similar SO question: stackoverflow.com/questions/9941736/…. The functions are supposed to be bound before their arguments are evaluated, and Chrome apparently does it in reverse order. – mellamokb Apr 12 '12 at 15:39
• I've tried long and hard to beat the highest Java solution by a completely different approach you can see above. 143 is the closest I've been able to get. Anyone have any ideas, please send my way! – mellamokb Apr 12 '12 at 18:52

~1$- 1$3$-/.p@*-  Input is given as space-separated list. ### JavaScript, 56 characters p=prompt;x=alert;a=p();b=p();x(m=(p()-b)/(b-a));x(b-a*m)  Input is given on prompt. ### Ruby, 44 characters a,b,c=eval("[#{gets}]");m=c-b;p m/=b-a,b-m*a  Input is here given as comma-separated list. ### Python, 40 characters a,b,c=input();m=c-b;m/=b-a;print m,b-m*a  Input is again comma-separated. ### Java, 141 characters enum E{E;static int s(){return new java.util.Scanner(System.in).nextInt();}{int a=s(),b=s(),m=s()-b;m/=b-a;System.out.print(m+" "+(b-a*m));}}  Input separated by newline. ### Lua, 51 characters r=io.read a,b=r(),r() m=(r()-b)/(b-a) print(m,b-m*a)  Input separated by newline. ### Go, 101 characters package main import"fmt" var a,b,c int func main(){fmt.Scan(&a,&b,&c) c-=b c/=b-a fmt.Print(c,b-a*c)}  Input separated by newline. ### Fortran, 90 characters  PROGRAM X READ(*,*)I,J,K K=(K-J)/(J-I) WRITE(*,*)K,J-I*K END  Input separated by newline. ### Befunge, 29 characters &01p&:11p:&-01g11g-/:.01g*-.@  ### PostScript, 61 characters 2 5 14 1 index sub 1 index 3 index sub idiv dup = 3 2 roll mul sub =  ### Owl, 23 characters <%<%<$-14'-/%.32)2'*-.


Input separated by newline.

### Element, 27 characters

_-a;_3:'-_+"a~+/2:a~*+\ 


Input separated by newline.

• Shameless heist of my JavaScript solution ;) – mellamokb Apr 9 '12 at 19:33
• Well two can play this game... :P – mellamokb Apr 9 '12 at 22:31
• @mellamokb Nice one. But I did already upvote your answer ;-) So what's left for us: beat the 48 characters... – Howard Apr 10 '12 at 4:01
• Wow, you golfed in my language. I feel honored. I also feel obligated to beat you. :) – PhiNotPi Apr 11 '12 at 19:50
• About your Element solution, it appears that the last  mark isn't needed. Is this an error on your part or an error in my interpreter that I posted on Pastebin? Oh, and I have a 27 character solution. – PhiNotPi Apr 11 '12 at 22:17

## J, 23 characters

(],1{x-0{x*])%~/2-/\x=:


Usage:

   (],1{x-0{x*])%~/2-/\x=: 5 _19 77
_4 1


Negative numbers are represented by underscores in J.

## PHP, 88 characters

<?php
list($x,$y,$z)=split(' ',fgets(STDIN));$a=($z-$y)/($y-$x);
echo$a." ".($y-$a*$x);


## Scala, 102 characters

val x=readLine.split(" ").toList.map(_.toInt)
val a=(x(2)-x(1))/(x(1)-x(0))
print(a+" "+(x(1)-x(0)*a))


s!(.+) (.+) (.+)!$a=($3-$2)/($2-$1);$a." ".($2-$1*$a)!e  Requires the '-p' option, for which I have added 2 characters. Assumes that the input is valid to save some characters. All my answers take space separated numbers. • About J programs ... Is input allowed to be coded directly in the source file instead of prompting it from the user? – r.e.s. Apr 13 '12 at 16:23 • @r.e.s. I've given it just the way I would invoke it on the command line. Adding 1!:1]3on the right of the expression will read the input from STDIN. I think there has been discussion on meta or in comments to some J answers over whether this should be allowed or not. I'm somewhat ambivalent - I enjoy figuring out how to get J to do what I want in the smallest space, I'll take the 6 character penalty for input from STDIN if that's what everyone wants. – Gareth Apr 13 '12 at 16:50 • I was thinking that if it's allowed for J, then some other entries might be shortened in a similar way. (BTW, I couldn't get your suggested expression to work, but (],1{x-0{x*])%~/2-/\x=:".1!:1]1 seems ok in console mode.) – r.e.s. Apr 13 '12 at 17:02 • @r.e.s. Oh yeah, I forgot to convert from a string to a list of numbers (though the 3 at the end normally works ok for me?) – Gareth Apr 13 '12 at 17:07 • If you make the Perl a subroutine rather than a full program, you can get it down to 50 bytes (and no command-line flags are necessary): ($a=($_[1]-pop)/($_[0]-$_[1])).$/.($_[1]-$_[0]*$a) – msh210 Mar 11 '16 at 19:20 ## QBasic, 42 INPUT "",a,b,c m=(c-b)/(b-a) PRINT m;b-m*a  Requires input with commas, outputs with spaces (is this ok?) ## Mercury, 319 :-module r. :-interface. :-import_module io,list,int,char,string. :-pred main(io::di,io::uo)is det. :-implementation. main(!IO):-io.read_line_as_string(J,!IO),(if J=ok(I),[A,B,C]=list.map(string.det_to_int,string.words_separator(char.is_whitespace,I)),M=(C-B)/(B-A)then io.format("%d %d",[i(M),i(B-M*A)],!IO)else true).  ## Haskell, 85 81 f[a,b,c]|m<-(c-b)div(b-a)=[m,b-m*a] main=getLine>>=mapM_ print.f.map read.words  Now inputs with spaces, outputs with newlines. ## C, 80 main(a,b,c,m){scanf("%d %d %d",&a,&b,&c);m=(c-b)/(b-a);printf("%d %d",m,b-m*a);}  ## C++, 96 #include<iostream> main(){int a,b,c,m;std::cin>>a>>b>>c;m=(c-b)/(b-a);std::cout<<m<<' '<<b-m*a;}  ## Nimrod, 146 import strutils var q:array[0..3,int] b,m:int for i in 0..2:q[i]=ParseInt(readLine(stdin)) b=q[1] m=(q[2]-b)div(b-q[0]) echo($m,",",$(b-m*q[0]))  Input w/ newlines, output comma. This one won't count, but I feel it still fits in in some way: ## Mathematical theorem, 713 characters of LaTeX \documentclass{article}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{amsthm}\begin{document}Theorem: for a sequence$(a_i)_i$of integers with$a_2\neq a_1$where$a_3-a_2$is divisible by$a_2-a_1$,$m:=\frac{a_3-a_2}{a_2-a_1},\ p:=a_2-m\cdot a_1$give rise to a sequence$b_i:=\begin{cases}a_1&\text{for }i=1\\b_{i-1}\cdot m+p&\text{else}\end{cases}$ such that$b_i=a_i\ \forall i\leq 3$. Proof:$i=1is trivial,\begin{aligned}b_2=&b_1\cdot m+p=a_1\frac{a_3-a_2}{a_2-a_1}+a_2-\frac{a_1a_3-a_1a_2}{a_2-a_1}=a_2,\\b_3=&b_2\cdot m+p=\frac{a_2a_3-a_2^2}{a_2-a_1}+a_2-\frac{a_1a_3-a_2^2}{a_2-a_1}\\=&\frac{a_2a_3-a_1a_3+(a_2-a_1)a_2-a_2^2+a_1a_2}{a_2-a_1}\\=&\frac{a_2-a_1a_3+0}{a_2-a_1}=a_3.\end{aligned}\qed\end{document}  While we're at writing := definitions... ## Pascal, 90 88 program r;var a,b,c:integer;begin;read(a,b,c);c-=b;c:=c div(b-a);write(c,' ',b-c*a);end.  ## Cuda, 301 #include<stdio.h> __global__ void r(int*q){if(!(blockIdx.x|threadIdx.x)){q[1]-=*q;q[1]/=(*q-q[2]);*q-=q[1]*q[2];}} main(){int p[3],*q;scanf("%d%d%d",p+2,p,p+1);cudaMalloc(&q,24);cudaMemcpy(q,p,24,cudaMemcpyHostToDevice);r<<<1,1>>>(q);cudaMemcpy(p,q,24,cudaMemcpyDeviceToHost);printf("%d %d",p[1],*p);}  • You can save two chars in the C solution by eliminating m and reusing c, and another two by using c-=b;c/=b-a; instead of c=(c-b)/(b-a);. – Peter Taylor Apr 10 '12 at 11:46 • In the C solution, you don't need the spaces in the scanf() format string. – Reto Koradi Jun 14 '15 at 17:52 ## AWK, 35 characters {m=(3-$2)/($2-$1);print m,$2-$1*m}  • Input format: 2 0 -4 ## bc, 39 characters define f(a,b,c){ m=(c-b)/(b-a) m b-a*m}  • Input format: z=f(2, 0, -4) • The input is a bc expression. After bc reads the source file, it reads the standard input. This is why the input must look like a function call. • I use OpenBSD bc, which requires a newline after the {. ## Common Lisp, 88 characters (let*((a(read))(b(read))(c(read))(m(/(- c b)(- b a))))(format t "~A ~A" m (- b(* a m))))  • Input format: 2 0 -4 ## csh, 86 characters set i=(cat) @ m=($i[3] - $i[2]) / ($i[2] - $i[1]) @ n=$i[2] - $i[1] *$m
echo $m$n

• Input format: 2 0 -4
• The 86th character is newline at end of file. csh is the only language for which I count newline at end of file. This is because csh never runs the last command unless newline is there.
• set i=($<) does not work, because $< has no word splitting.

## dc, 30 characters

?scsbsalclb-lbla-/psmlblalm*-p

• Input format: 2 0 _4, where _ is the underscore.

## es, 95 characters

i=(cat)
echo $m$(($2 -$m*$1))  Example : sh prog.sh 2 0 -4 (space separated arguments) # Perl, 84 @s=split(/ /,&lt;STDIN&gt;);$m=($s[2]-$s[1])/($s[1]-$s[0]);print $m." ".($s[1]-$s[0]*$m);


# Java, 297

import java.util.*;public class A{public static void main(String a[]){StringTokenizer s=new StringTokenizer(new Scanner(System.in).nextLine());int i=4;int[] p=new int[i];while(i-->1)p[3-i]=Integer.parseInt(s.nextToken());p[3]=(p[2]-p[1])/(p[1]-p[0]);System.out.print(p[3]+" "+(p[1]-p[0]*p[3]));}}


Space separated input, space separated output.

# SQL, 57

select (&3-&2)/(&2-&1),&2-((&3-&2)/(&2-&1)*&1) from dual


This is a sad entry, but 'just' solves the purpose. The query binds input at runtime 1,2,3 are variables in order of input.

• Even though others have already beat your bash solution, I just wanted to suggest you could have removed all those extra spaces and saved 6 characters. – mellamokb Apr 12 '12 at 12:53
• Thanks mellamokb, I did realize that, I just sort of ignored it later. Also, I hate myself of not thinking your dos/batch solution, that should have clicked my head..args ahh! – Aman ZeeK Verma Apr 12 '12 at 15:04

### bash (42 chars)

Pure bash:

((m=($3-$2)/($2-$1),c=$2-m*$1));echo $m$c


### bash (31 chars)

Shelling out to something else:

owl -p"<%<%<$-14'-/%.32)2'*-."  (Based on Howard's OWL implementation) ## VBA, 57 characters Sub x(a,b,c) y=(c-b)/(b-a) MsgBox y & " " & b-a*y End Sub  (This is basically the same as the other 'BASIC' functions, but I didn't see any VBA submissions out there already.) • You can drop 8 bytes by changing line 3 to Debug.?y;b-a*y – Taylor Scott May 31 '17 at 14:47 ## Whitespace, 123   I/O is newline-separated. (To obtain the source code, enter edit mode and copy the whitespace between the preformat tags; or, see the online example at Ideone.) Explanation, where S,T,L represents Space,Tab,Linefeed: Pseudocode Whitespace ---------- ---------- push 0 SS SSL readn TLTT push 1 SS STL readn TLTT push 2 SS STSL dup SLS readn TLTT retr TTT push 1 SS STL retr TTT - TSST push 1 SS STL retr TTT push 0 SS SSL retr TTT - TSST / TSTS dup SLS outn TLST push 10 SS STSTSL outc TLSS push 0 SS SSL retr TTT * TSSL push 1 SS STL retr TTT swap SLT - TSST outn TLST exit LLL  ## R, 50 x=scan(n=3);y=diff(x);z=y[2]/y[1];c(z,x[2]-x[1]*z)  I/O is space-separated. ## Owl ---22--- < <%<-22-/%.10)2'*-.  I/O is newline-separated. ---19--- (if this version is allowed; but I think it's cheating, since the \ is executable code): 1-13-/%.32)2'*-.  I/O is space-separated. Command-line usage: owl prog 5 19\ 77 (the \ acts as a postfix unary minus in Owl). • With your Owl entry, I can suspend judgement of your 19 char solution since your 22 char solution is already winning for the language. – PhiNotPi Apr 13 '12 at 18:34 ## PHP, 74,72,69 <?fscanf(STDIN,'%d%d%d',$a,$b,$c);echo($d=($c-$b)/($b-$a)).' '.($b-$d*$a);


When input is passed as arguments:

<?echo($d=($argv[3]-$argv[2])/($b=$argv[2]-$a=$argv[1])).' '.($b-$d*$a);


Now, as @mellamokb suggested, using $n=$argv:

<?$n=$argv;echo($d=($n[3]-$n[2])/($b=$n[2]-$a=$n[1])).' '.($b-$d*$a);


## C, 77,78

main(a,b,c,d){printf("%d %d",d=(c-b)/(b-a),b-d*a,scanf("%d%d%d",&a,&b,&c));}


^ doesn't work so, here's the stuff: [thanks to @ugoren for bringing it to notice]

main(a,b,c,d){printf("%d %d",d,b-a*(d=(c-b)/(b-a)),scanf("%d%d%d",&a,&b,&c));}

• +1 Wow, didn't know you could fscanf and scanf without spaces. Awesome! – mellamokb Apr 10 '12 at 15:41
• In your second PHP solution, couldn't you save a few more characters by renaming $argv, i.e., $n=$argv at the beginning? – mellamokb Apr 10 '12 at 19:24 • @mellamokb- yeah! I didn't think about that! thanks! :) – l0n3sh4rk Apr 11 '12 at 8:30 • Your C code doesn't work (I tried on Linux). I relies on a very strange parameter evaluation order - why would scanf be done first, then d=.. then b-d*a? – ugoren Apr 11 '12 at 9:29 • From what I can tell, this just arbitrarily "happens" to work in most environments (ex: ideone.com/I2cPg), but the order of parameter evaluation in C is undefined behavior, and so technically shouldn't be relied upon: orangejuiceliberationfront.com/… – mellamokb Apr 11 '12 at 13:27 This is (non-optimized) code for the unimited register machine, described here: http://www.proofwiki.org/wiki/Definition:Unlimited_Register_Machine The input should be in register 1,2 and 3, and the output will be in register 1, 2 after the program is done. Non-negative and non-integer numbers are not handled, but inputs 0,7,14 and 2,5,11 are handled correctly.  Zero[8] Trans[2,11] Jump[3,11,7] Succ[11] Succ[8] Jump[11,11,3] Zero[5] Trans[1,12] Jump[2,12,13] Succ[12] Succ[5] Jump[12,12,9] Zero[17] Trans[8,13] Jump[13,17,25] Zero[16] Trans[5,14] Jump[13,14,22] Succ[14] Succ[16] Jump[14,14,18] Succ[9] Trans[16,13] Jump[17,17,15] Zero[6] Zero[20] Jump[9,6,40] Zero[7] Trans[1,21] Jump[20,7,36] Succ[21] Trans[21,19] Trans[19,21] Succ[7] Jump[7,7,30] Trans[21,18] Trans[18,20] Succ[6] Jump[6,6,27] Trans[20,4] Zero[10] Trans[4,15] Jump[2,15,47] Succ[15] Succ[10] Jump[15,15,43] Trans[9,1] Trans[10,2]  EDIT: by removing brackes, and shortening instruction names: URM 285  Z8 T2,11 J3,11,7 S11 S8 J11,11,3 Z5 T1,12 J2,12,13 S12 S5 J12,12,9 Z17 T8,13 J13,17,25 Z16 T5,14 J13,14,22 S14 S16 J14,14,18 S9 T16,13 J17,17,15 Z6 Z20 J9,6,40 Z7 T1,21 J20,7,36 S21 T21,19 T19,21 S7 J7,7,30 T21,18 T18,20 S6 J6,6,27 T20,4 Z10 T4,15 J2,15,47 S15 S10 J15,15,43 T9,1 T10,2  • (+1) But ... "Non-negative and non-integer numbers are not handled" ... I think you mean to say that negative numbers are not handled. (The OP says all input & output is integer.) – r.e.s. Apr 11 '12 at 10:53 • Ah, did not read that output was integer... – Per Alexandersson Apr 11 '12 at 11:07 • Should I count this by character count or by the number of instructions? – PhiNotPi Apr 11 '12 at 13:20 • Maybe count the characters in the edited version... – Per Alexandersson Apr 11 '12 at 20:32 # Q, 36 {a,x[2]-x[1]*a:%[x[2]-x 1;x[1]-x 0]}  usage q){a,x[2]-x[1]*a:%[x[2]-x 1;x[1]-x 0]}each(0 7 14;2 5 11;2 0 -4;5 -19 77) 1 7 2 1 2 -4 -4 1  ## Fortran 44 read*,i,j,k;k=(k-j)/(j-i);print*,k,j-i*k;end  Input will be in a single line (comma or space separated) ## Cray Chapel 59 var i,j,k:int;read(i,j,k);k=(k-j)/(j-i);write(k," ",j-i*k);  Input will be on single line, no newline (add 2 chars for that by using writeln in place of write). ## Golflua 44 r=I.r;a,b=r(),r();m=(r()-b)/(b-a);w(m,b-m*a)  Newline delimited input, space delimited output # MoonScript(48 chars, newline delimited input, space delimited output) r=io.read a,b=r!,r! m=(r!-b)/(b-a) print m,b-m*a  # Felix(86 chars, newline delimited input, comma delimited output) gen r()=>int$ readln stdin;
var a,b=r(),r();
var m=(r()-b)/(b- a);
println(m,b- m*a);


# Julia(84 chars, space delimited input, space delimited output)

a,b,c=tuple(map(int,split(readline(STDIN)))...)
m=(c-b)/(b-a)
println("$m$(b-m*a)")

• Your Julia solution throws an error. ERROR: BoundsError() in indexed_next at tuple.jl:19 (repeats 2 times) while loading d:\codegolf\series.jl, in expression starting on line 1 – M L Jun 14 '15 at 16:04
• @ML That's weird. Might be something that changed in the newest version of Julia. I'll try it. – kirbyfan64sos Jun 14 '15 at 16:59
• If I try it out in the console I get the error immediately after the first line. Somehow the line creates a tuple, that’s always (a,b,0) If I include it via a .jl file then it creates the output, but throws the error if I press enter to get the Julia REPL back. julia> include("happy_birthday_codegolf.jl") 5 -19 77 -4 1 ERROR: BoundsError() in indexed_next at tuple.jl:19 (repeats 2 times) while loading d:\codegolf\series.jl, in expression starting on line 1 Is there any way to insert line breaks in comments? Sorry for the mess. – M L Jun 14 '15 at 18:22
• @ML Does putting it in a file and running it via julia file.jl give the same error? – kirbyfan64sos Jun 14 '15 at 18:26
• I guess it’s not readable in my mess of an answer above. Yes, I tried both the console and including it via a .jl file. “If I include it via a .jl file then it creates the output, but throws the error if I press enter to get the Julia REPL back.” If I run your example via .jl file, then the program waits for some input before the julia> REPL/prompt comes back. – M L Jun 14 '15 at 19:43

# Julia, 71 characters

Space delimited input and output.

i,j,k=int(split(readline(STDIN)));println("$(l=div(k-j,j-i))$(j-i*l)")

Example input and output:

julia> i,j,k=int(split(readline(STDIN)));println("$(l=div(k-j,j-i))$(j-i*l)")
5 -19 77
-4 1


# Piet, 8660 56 codels (14x4), codel size 10 for better visibility

I could actually shrink down the amount of codels by a whopping 35%. I didn’t expect such a good outcome. Coding this program backwards was, as I expected, quite successful. I doubt it can be shorter than this, but I would be really interested if anyone could find a smaller solution.

The challenge does not state if the program has to stop after showing the result, so my smallest (56 codel) program should be valid. It just loops back to the beginning after showing the result, asking for a new triplet of integers. Due to the tight packing there is no place for the output of two newline characters, but that is no problem with the npiet interpreter, because it always prints a ‘?’ if it awaits input.

There are two possible sizes to build a looped version, but a version that runs only once is only possible in a program that’s at least 64 codels (16x4) big. The versions below show the reason. Maybe it’s also interesting for those who are familiar with Piet.

The final, most tightly packed 56 codel version, with a loop:

Second version (60 codels), with a loop

If the 56 codel version is against the rules, here is the final 64 codel version, running only once:

My first version (86 codels)

Input and output are newline delimited.

Example input and output:

D:\codegolf\npiet-1.3a-win32>npiet ml_series.png
? 5
? -19
? 77
-4
1


For looped versions, looking a bit uglier:

D:\codegolf\npiet-1.3a-win32>npiet ml_series_56_codels.png"
? 5
? -19
? 77
-4
1? 5
? -19
? 77
-4
1? 5
? -19
? 77
-4
1?


I chose newline as delimiter because coding ASCII 10 (\n) obviously needs only 7 codels, compared to ASCII 32 ( ) which needs 8 codels or even ASCII 40 (,) which needs 9 codels.

Coding backwards from the result to the first input is a great way to reduce the codel use for ROL operations. The stack order at the beginning and at the end are known, the rest is easily done by hand.

Here is a text version of the 64 codel program (with stack), in my made-up shorthand. The shorter programs just don’t terminate but loop back to the beginning.

NOP ADD DIV GRT DUP INC END
0   +   /   >   =   c   ~
PSH SUB MOD PTR ROL OUN
X   -   %   #   @   N
POP MUL NOT SWI INN OUC
?   *   !   \$   n   C

1
1    1   2 2     1                   a,b,c: input for series
5 5  3 3 c c cb  3 3                       D: c-b
b b bb b bbb b bcD D Da                      E: b-a
bb b bb b baa a aaa a abE F                   F: D/E, (c-b)/(b-a), mul. const.
bbb b ba a abb b bbb b bDDFFF    5             G: a*F, a(c-b)/(b-a)
aaaa a aa a aaa a aaa a aaaaaaG  55 10          H: b-G, b-a*F, add. const.
aaaaa a ab b bbb b bbb b bbbbbbbH HH  H H
n=n==5X1X@3X1X@n2X1X@-3X1X@-/=N*-5X=  + CN~
| |            |     |     || |||\____/ ||
| |            |     |     || |||  |    |+———— output add. const.
| |            |     |     || |||  |    +————— output newline character
| |            |     |     || |||  +—————————— 5 DUP + =10, ASCII for \n
| |            |     |     || ||+————————————— H, add. const.
| |            |     |     || |+—————————————— G
| |            |     |     || +——————————————— output mul. const.
| |            |     |     |+————————————————— F, mul. const.
| |            |     |     +—————————————————— E
| |            |     +———————————————————————— D
| |            +—————————————————————————————— input c
| +——————————————————————————————————————————— input b
+————————————————————————————————————————————— input a