Looping Through ASCII Art in Java: Solving a Homework Predicament

[Hiche]

..so, we have been assigned a homework to print a certain ASCII art using only loops and methods. We can also use the built-in math methods such as the exponential one and whatnot.

Basically, we have been asked to print an increasing loop that goes as follows:

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

..and so on, so forth. Notice how the stars increase by 2 then by 4, then by 2 then by 4. The sequence in which the stars are increasing within is 2,4,2,4,2,4,2,4...I managed to find the series for that: 3 + (-1)^n or 2 + 2 * (n % 2) where n >= 1.

Is there a way to use that in a loop? I'm slightly bewildered at the moment as this problem overwhelms my basic understanding on loops.

 

[Mark44]

..so, we have been assigned a homework to print a certain ASCII art using only loops and methods. We can also use the built-in math methods such as the exponential one and whatnot.

Basically, we have been asked to print an increasing loop that goes as follows:

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

..and so on, so forth. Notice how the stars increase by 2 then by 4, then by 2 then by 4. The sequence in which the stars are increasing within is 2,4,2,4,2,4,2,4...I managed to find the series for that: 3 + (-1)^n or 2 + 2 * (n % 2) where n >= 1.

Is there a way to use that in a loop? I'm slightly bewildered at the moment as this problem overwhelms my basic understanding on loops.

Are you sure about how the numbers of asterisks in a line increase? It would make more sense to me and would make a nicer pattern if they increased by 2 each line.

 

[Hiche]

Unfortunately, this is how our instructor assigned us to do. I tried like everything, but no avail. This is just a fraction of a larger program that prints my country's flag.

Is there a way to do that?

 

[Mark44]

The counting loop would look something like this.

for (int i = 0; i < ROW_LIMIT; i++}
{
   starCount = 2*i + 1;
   // The if block skips 5, 11, 17, 23, etc.
   if (starCount % 3 == 2) 
   {
      continue; 
   }
   // Code to calculate the number of spaces to print, and print starCount asterisks
}

 

[DeeNos]

Yes, there is a way to use that formula in a loop to print the desired ASCII art. Here is an example of how you can use a for loop in Java to print the art:

// Define the number of rows you want to print
int rows = 5;

// Use a for loop to iterate through each row
for (int i = 0; i < rows; i++) {

// Calculate the number of stars to print using the formula
int stars = 2 + 2 * (i % 2);

// Use a nested for loop to print the appropriate number of spaces and stars
for (int j = 0; j < rows - i - 1; j++) {
System.out.print(" ");
}
for (int k = 0; k < stars; k++) {
System.out.print("*");
}

// Move to the next line
System.out.println();
}

This code will produce the following output:

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

You can also use this formula in a while or do-while loop if you prefer. The key is to understand the pattern and use a loop to print the appropriate number of spaces and stars in each row. I hope this helps with your homework predicament. Good luck!