Print a letter Fibonacci

Question

Given N (2 <= N), print N lines of the letter Fibonacci series like this (i.e. N = 5) First, start with a and b:

a
b

Next, add the two lines.

a
b
ab

Keep adding the last two lines.

a
b
ab
bab

Keep going...

a
b
ab
bab
abbab

And we're done.

Remember, this is code-golf, so the code with the fewest bytes wins.

Answer 1

Python 2, 41 bytes

Saved 3 bytes thanks to @xnor

a,b="ab";exec"print a;a,b=b,a+b;"*input()

Test on Ideone

Simply follows the recursive definition.

Answer 2

Haskell, 29 35 32 bytes

a%b=a:b%(a++b)
(`take`("a"%"b"))

Simple recursion.

For reference: the old version (an adaption of this answer), concatenated the strings in the wrong order, so I had to add a flip(...) which made it too long (35 bytes).

f="a":scanl(flip(++))"b"f
(`take`f)

Answer 3

05AB1E, 12 11 bytes

Thanks to Emigna for saving a byte!

'a='b¹GD=Š«

Uses the CP-1252 encoding. Try it online!

Answer 4

Jelly, 11 10 bytes

”a”bṄ;¥@¡f

Try it online!

How it works

”a”bṄ;¥@¡f  Main link. Argument: n

”a          Set the return value to 'a'.
  ”b    ¡   Call the link to the left n times, with left argument 'b' and right
            argument 'a'. After each call, the right argument is replaced with the
            left one, and the left argument with the return value. The final
            return value is yielded by the quicklink.
      ¥       Combine the two atoms to the left into a dyadic chain.
    Ṅ           Print the left argument of the chain, followed by a linefeed.
     ;          Concatenate the left and right argument of the chain.
       @      Call the chain with reversed argument order.
         f  Filter the result by presence in n. This yields an empty string
            and thus suppresses the implicit output.

Answer 5

Java 7, 69 bytes

String c(int n,String a,String b){return n--<1?"":a+"\n"+c(n,b,a+b);}

ungolfed

 class fibb {


public static void main(String[] args) {
    System.out.println( c( 7, "a" , "b" ) );

}
static String c(int n,String a,String b) {
    
    return n-- < 1  ? "" : a + "\n" + c(n,b,a + b);
    
}
}

Answer 6

Emacs, 26, 25-ish keystrokes

Program

#n to be read as key with digit(s) n:

ARETBRETF3UPUPC-SPACEC-EM-WDOWNDOWNC-Y UPC-AC-SPACEC-EM-WDOWNC-EC-YRETF4C-#(n-2)F4

Explanation

command(s)               explanation                      buffer reads (| = cursor aka point)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A<RET> B<RET>            input starting points            "a\nb\n|"
<F3>                     start new macro                  "a\nb\n|"
<UP><UP>                 move point two lines up          "|a\nb\n"
C-<SPACE> C-E M-W        copy line at point               "a|\nb\n"
<DOWN><DOWN>             move point two lines down        "a\nb\n|"
C-Y                      yank (paste)                     "a\nb\na|"
<UP>                     move point one line up           "a\nb|\na"
C-A C-<SPACE> C-E M-W    copy line at point               "a\nb|\na"
<DOWN>                   move point one line down         "a\nb|\na|"
C-E C-Y <RET>            yank (paste) and add new line    "a\nb|\nab\n|"
<F4>                     stop macro recording             "a\nb|\nab\n|"
C-#(n-3) <F4>            apply macro n-3 times            "a\nb|\nab\nbab\nabbab\n|"

With n=10

a
b
ab
bab
abbab
bababbab
abbabbababbab
bababbababbabbababbab
abbabbababbabbababbababbabbababbab
bababbababbabbababbababbabbababbabbababbababbabbababbab

Answer 7

JavaScript (ES6), 43 42 bytes

Saved a byte thanks to @Arnauld

f=(n,a="a",b="b")=>n&&f(n-!alert(a),b,a+b)

Answer 8

CJam, 19 17 bytes

'a'b{_@_n\+}ri*;;

explanation

"a": Push character literal "a" onto the stack.
"b": Push character literal "b" onto the stack.
{_@_p\+}
    {: Block begin.
    _: duplicate top element on the stack
    @: rotate top 3 elements on the stack
    _: duplicate top element on the stack
    n: print string representation
    \: swap top 2 elements on the stack
    +: add, concat
    }: Block end.
r: read token (whitespace-separated)
i: convert to integer
*: multiply, join, repeat, fold (reduce)
;: pop and discard
;: pop and discard

Answer 9

V, 18 bytes

ia
bkÀñyjGpgJkñdj

Try it online!

Or, the more readable version:

ia
b<esc>kÀñyjGpgJkñdj

Explanation:

ia
b<esc>          " Insert the starting text and escape back to normal mode
k               " Move up a line
 Àñ       ñ     " Arg1 times:
   yj           "   Yank the current line and the line below
     G          "   Move to the end of the buffer
      p         "   Paste what we just yanked
       gJ       "   Join these two lines
         k      "   Move up one line
           dj   " Delete the last two lines

Answer 10

MATL, 14 bytes

97c98ci2-:"yyh

Try it online!

97c     % Push 'a'
98c     % Push 'b'
i2-     % Input number. Subtract 2
:"      % Repeat that many times
  yy    %   Duplicate the top two elements
  h     %   Concatenate them

Answer 11

Python 2, 55 bytes

def f(n):m='a','b';exec'print m[-2];m+=m[-2]+m[-1],;'*n

Answer 12

Retina, 33 bytes

.+
$*
^11
a¶b
+`¶(.+?)1
¶$1¶$%`$1

Try it online!

Saved 10 (!) bytes thanks to @MartinEnder!

Explanation

Converts the input to unary, subtracts 2 and adds the a and the b, then recursively replaces the remaining 1s with the concatenation of the two previous strings.

Answer 13

Batch, 102 93 bytes

@set a=a
@set b=b
@for /l %%i in (2,1,%1)do @call:l
:l
@echo %a%
@set a=%b%&set b=%a%%b%

Fortunately variables are expanded for every line before assignments take effect, so I can set both a and b using their old values without needing a temporary. Edit: Saved 9 bytes thanks to @nephi12.

Answer 14

Stack my Golf, 63 bytes

Get my language here: https://github.com/cheertarts/Stack-My-Golf.

($1=(_(a))($2=(_(b))($2-f:1-f,)?)?)f\($1=(f)($1-p(\n),:f,)?)p\p

There is probably a shorter way but this is the most obvious.

Answer 15

Perl, 36 35 bytes

Includes +3 for -n

Give count on STDIN

perl -M5.010 fibo.pl <<< 5

fibo.pl

#!/usr/bin/perl -n
$_=$'.s/1//.$_,say$`for(a1.b)x$_

Answer 16

Perl, 45 +1 = 46 bytes

+1 byte for -n flag

$a=a,$b=b;say($a),($a,$b)=($b,$a.$b)for 1..$_

Slight improvement over the existing 49-byte solution, but developed separately. The parentheses for say($a) are necessary because otherwise, it interprets $a,($a,$b)=($b,$a.$b) as the argument of say which outputs more junk than we need.

Perl, 42 bytes

$b=<>;$_=a;say,y/ab/bc/,s/c/ab/g while$b--

A separate approach from the above solution:

$b=<>;                                       #Read the input into $b
      $_=a;                                  #Create the initial string 'a' stored in $_
           say                               #Print $_ on a new line
               y/ab/bc/                      #Perform a transliteration on $_ as follows:
                                   #Replace 'a' with 'b' and 'b' with 'c' everywhere in $_
                        s/c/ab/g             #Perform a replacement on $_ as follows:
                                   #Replace 'c' with 'ab' everywhere in $_
              ,        ,         while$b--   #Perform the operations separated by commas
                                   #iteratively as long as $b-- remains truthy

I'm not yet convinced I can't combine the transliteration and replacement into a single, shorter operation. If I find one, I'll post it.

Answer 17

SOML, 8 bytes

 a b.{;t⁴+

explanation:

 a b.{;t⁴+                                        stack on 1st cycle
 a              push "a"                               ["a"]
   b            push "b"                               ["a","b"]
    .{          repeat input times                     ["a","b"]
      ;         swap the two top things on the stack   ["b","a"]
       t        output the top thing on the stack      ["b","a"]
        ⁴       copy the 2nd from top thing from stack ["b","a","b"]
         +      join them together                     ["b","ab"]

This language is still in development and I did add a couple new functions while writing this.

Also, 1st post on PPCG!

Answer 18

Swift 3, 76 Bytes

func f(_ n:Int,_ x:String="a",_ y:String="b"){if n>1{print(x);f(n-1,y,x+y)}}

Answer 19

Perl, 48 bytes

47 bytes code + 1 for -n.

Simple approach. Try using an array slice originally $a[@a]="@a[-2,-1]" but that necessitates $"="" or similar :(. Save 1 byte thanks to @Dada!

@;=(a,b);$;[@;]=$;[-2].$;[-1]for 3..$_;say for@

Usage

perl -nE '@;=(a,b);$;[@;]=$;[-2].$;[-1]for 3..$_;say for@' <<< 5
a
b
ab
bab
abbab

Answer 20

05AB1E, 15 bytes

'a'bVUFX,XYUYJV

Answer 21

C, 156 bytes (without indent)

void f(int n)
{
    char u[999]="a",v[999]="b",*a=u,*b=a+1,*c=v,*d=c+1,*e,i;
    for(i=0;i<n;++i)
    {
        printf("%s\n",a);
        for(e=c;*b++=*e++;);
        e=a;a=c;c=e;e=b+1;b=d;d=e;
    }
}

Two buffers (u & v) store the last two lines. The newest line (tracked with two pointers: start=c, end=d) is appended to the oldest one (start=a, end=b). Swap (a,b) and (c,d), and loop. Pay attention to buffer size before requesting too much lines. Not so short (as expected of a low-level language), but was fun to code.

Answer 22

PHP, 63 62 bytes

Recursive version:

function f($n,$a=a,$b=b){return$n--?"$a
".f($n,$b,$a.$b):'';}

Answer 23

Python 2, 56 bytes

a,b="ab"
for i in range(input()):
	print(a+b)
	a,b=b,a+b

Try it online!

Python 2, 44 bytes

a,b="ab"
exec"print(a+b);a,b=b,a+b;"*input()

Try it online!

Answer 24

Pyth, 17 bytes

J,\a\bjP.U=+Js>2J

A program that takes input of an integer and prints the result.

Try it online!

How it works

J,\a\bjP.U=+Js>2J  Program. Input: Q
 ,\a\b             Yield the two element list ['a', 'b']
J                  Assign to J
        .U         Reduce over [0, 1, 2, 3, ..., Q] (implicit input):
          =J+        J = J +
              >2J     the last two elements of J
             s        concatenated
       P           All of that except the last element
      j            Join on newlines
                   Implicitly print

Answer 25

Pyth - 16 15 bytes

A"ab" m=H+
~GHH

Try it online here.

Answer 26

APL, 30 bytes.

⎕IO must be 1.

{⎕←⍵}¨{⍵∊⍳2:⍵⌷'ab'⋄∊∇¨⍵-⌽⍳2}¨⍳

Answer 27

Mathematica, 49 bytes

f@1="a";f@2="b";f@n_:=f[n-2]<>f[n-1];g=f~Array~#&

Defines a function g taking the single numerical input; returns a list of strings. Straightforward recursive implementation, using the string-joining operator <>.

Mathematica, 56 bytes

NestList[#~StringReplace~{"a"->"b","b"->"ab"}&,"a",#-1]&

Unnamed function, same input/output format as above. This solution uses an alternate way to generate the strings: each string in the list is the result of simultaneously replacing, in the previous string, all occurrences of "a" with "b" and all occurrences of "b" with "ab".

Answer 28

Groovy, 79 Bytes

{println("a\nb");x=['a','b'];(it-2).times{println(y=x.sum());x[0]=x[1];x[1]=y}}

Answer 29

PHP, 53 bytes

for($a=b,$b=a;$argv[1]--;$a=($_=$b).$b=$a)echo$b.'
';

Answer 30

C++11, 89 98 bytes

+7 bytes for all lines, not only the last one. +2 bytes more for N being the number of lines printed, not some 0-based stuff.

#include<string>
using S=std::string;S f(int n,S a="a",S b="b"){return n-1?a+"\n"+f(n-1,b,a+b):a;}

Usage:

f(5)