Lecture 3: Introduction to algorithms
Pop quiz! Aren’t you lucky. These questions aren’t hard or tricks. If you did the reading last week they should be pretty simple. They are more to tell me who’s doing the reading than how smart you are.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about week 2 exercise 3 loops_7. These are the instruction:
Make a pyramid.
Return this:
[
[' ', ' ', ' ', ' ', '*', ' ', ' ', ' ', ' '],
[' ', ' ', ' ', '*', '*', '*', ' ', ' ', ' '],
[' ', ' ', '*', '*', '*', '*', '*', ' ', ' '],
[' ', '*', '*', '*', '*', '*', '*', '*', ' '],
['*', '*', '*', '*', '*', '*', '*', '*', '*']
]
or in more simple terms:
*
* * *
* * * * *
* * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * *
(this is what will print when you test from inside this file) This is a hard problem. Use lots of experimentation and draw lots of diagrams!
and below are the solutions that passed the test. This is a fairly simple function, and it’s a very strict test. So what that means is that all of these functions do exactly the same thing!
Reading code is at least as important as writing it, take the time to go through these examples of different ways of doing the same thing and think about which you like. Which is most readable? Which is most elegant? This is a great example of what we mean by choosing a good algorithm. There are almost always many ways to do things, so you need to be able to make a call about which one to pick and why.
If you are allergic to scrolling, get over it because there is more after all these functions.
Rizo007 
def loops_7():
columns = []
for x in range(5):
rows = []
for y in range(9):
if abs(y-4) <= x:
rows.append('*')
else:
rows.append(' ')
columns.append(rows)
print(columns)
return columns
pennypangCODE 
def loops_7():
columns = []
for x in range(5):
rows = []
for y in range(9):
if abs(y-4) <= x:
rows.append('*')
else:
rows.append(' ')
columns.append(rows)
print (columns)
return columns
pass
FlimEden
def loops_7():
baseLength = 9
starting = int(baseLength / 2) # Get middle index
printNum = 1
height = starting + 1
pyramidArray = []
for i in range(height):
printIterator = printNum
pyramidArray.append([])
for j in range(baseLength):
if j >= starting and printIterator != 0:
pyramidArray[i].append("*")
printIterator -= 1
else:
pyramidArray[i].append(" ")
printNum += 2
starting -= 1
return pyramidArray
sheldakristie
def loops_7():
ihatepyramids_box = []
for i in range(5):
ihatepyramids_inside = []
for j in range(4-i):
ihatepyramids_inside.append(" ")
for j in range(1+i):
ihatepyramids_inside.append("*")
for j in range(0+i):
ihatepyramids_inside.append("*")
for j in range(4-i):
ihatepyramids_inside.append(" ")
ihatepyramids_box.append(ihatepyramids_inside)
return ihatepyramids_box
RangoRay
def loops_7():
numberfield = []
for i in range(5):
number = []
for j in range(9):
if j < 5 + i and j > 3 - i:
number.append('*')
else:
number.append(' ')
numberfield.append(number)
return numberfield
lorniashi
def loops_7():
pyramid = []
for i in range(5):
row = '{0}{1}{0}'.format(' '*(5-i-1), '*'*(i*2+1))
pyramid.append(list(row))
print (pyramid)
return pyramid
atiredturtle
def loops_7():
HEIGHT = 5
WIDTH = 9
arr = []
num_blanks = 4
for i in range(HEIGHT):
row = []
for i in range(WIDTH):
if i < num_blanks:
row.append(" ")
elif WIDTH - i <= num_blanks:
row.append(" ")
else:
row.append("*")
num_blanks -= 1
arr.append(row)
return arr
alanw410
def loops_7():
pyramid = [0] * 5
sp = 4
sp2 = 5
def v(num):
if(num < sp or num >= sp2):
return True
pass
else:
return False
pass
for x in range(0, 5):
pyramid[x] = (map(lambda x: ' ' if(v(x)) else '*', range(0, 9)))
sp = sp - 1
sp2 = sp2 + 1
return(pyramid)
pass
Matchalism
def loops_7():
pyramidList = []
for index in range(5):
stacklist = []
for j in range(9):
if (5 - index - 2 < j and j < index + 5):
stacklist.append("*")
else:
stacklist.append(" ")
pyramidList.append(stacklist)
return pyramidList
TerryAg
def loops_7():
returnedList = []
for i in range(0, 5)[::-1]:
temp = [' ' for _ in range(9)]
", " temp[i:9-i] = '*'*(9-2*i)
returnedList.append(temp)
return returnedList
sherry0303
def loops_7():
star_pyramid = []
for i in range(5):
row = list("*"*9)
left_bound = int((9-1)/2 - i)
right_bound = int((9+1)/2 + i)
for j in range(0, left_bound):
row[j] = " "
for j in range(right_bound, 9):
row[j] = " "
star_pyramid.append(row)
print(star_pyramid)
return star_pyramid
AkisukeY
def loops_7():
pyramid = []
blank = 4
dot = 1
for i in range(5):
plane = []
for j in range(blank):
plane.append(" ")
for j in range(dot):
plane.append("*")
for j in range(blank):
plane.append(" ")
blank -= 1
dot += 2
pyramid.append(plane)
return pyramid
872815554
def loops_7():
baseLength = 9
starting = int(baseLength / 2) # Get
 middle index
printNum = 1
height = starting + 1
pyramidArray = []
for i in range(height):
printIterator = printNum
pyramidArray.append([])
for j in range(baseLength):
if j >= starting and printIterator != 0:
pyramidArray[i].append("*")
printIterator -= 1
else:
pyramidArray[i].append(" ")
printNum += 2
starting -= 1
return pyramidArray
dbisazza
def loops_7():
def isPointOnPyramid(i, j):
if j == 4:
row.append('*')
if (j > 4 - (i+1)) & (j < 4 + (i)):
row.append('*')
else:
row.append(' ')
column = []
for i in range(5):
row = []
for j in range(8):
isPointOnPyramid(i, j)
column.append(row)
print(column)
return column
pass
timtamtinyman999
def loops_7():
columns = []
for x in range(5):
rows = []
for y in range(9):
if abs(y-4) <= x:
rows.append("*")
else:
rows.append(' ')
columns.append(rows)
return columns
DarkPurple141
def loops_7():
temp = []
for i in range(5):
new = [' ']*9
for j, _ in enumerate(new):
if j >= 4-i and j <= 4+i:
new[j] = '*'
temp.append(new)
return temp
zingjanet
def loops_7():
the_pyramid = []
spine = ['*']
for i in range(5):
space = []
tile = []
for j in range(4-i):
space.append(" ")
for k in range(i):
tile.append("*")
the_pyramid.append(space + tile + spine + tile + space)
return the_pyramid
tomwyb
def loops_7():
pyr = []
for i in range(5):
row = []
for x in range(9):
if x < (4 - i) or x > (4 + i):
row.append(" ")
else:
row.append("*")
pyr.append(row)
return pyr
matthewpoytress
def loops_7():
pyramid = []
for i in range(5):
row = '{0}{1}{0}'.format(' '*(5-i-1), '*'*(i*2+1))
pyramid.append(list(row))
print (pyramid)
return pyramid
BaptisteHiggs
def loops_7():
pyramidList = []
height = 5
for y in range(height):
tempLine = []
for x in range(height*2-1):
if x >= height - 1 - y and x <= height + y - 1:
tempLine.append('*')
else:
tempLine.append(' ')
pyramidList.append(tempLine)
return pyramidList
DanielHeh
def loops_7():
pyr = []
blank = 4
dot = 1
for i in range(5):
plane = []
for ii in range(blank):
plane.append(" ")
for ii in range(dot):
plane.append("*")
for ii in range(blank):
plane.append(" ")
blank -= 1
dot += 2
pyr.append(plane)
return pyr
OneMoreN
def loops_7():
pyramidList = []
for index in range(5):
stackList = []
for x in range(9):
if (5 - index - 2 < x and x < index + 5):
stackList.append("*")
else:
stackList.append(" ")
pyramidList.append(stackList)
return pyramidList
pass
This week’s reading 
Cormen, T. & Balkcom, D., Algorithms.
Go through the Intro to algorithms, Binary search and Asymptotic notation sections, these guys have made it really simple to understand and it’ll reinforce everything we’ve said in the lecture.
Galef, J. (2016). Tom Griffiths and Brian Christian on “Algorithms to Live By”. 
Rationally Speaking.
This week’s homework
Complete the exercises in the week 3 folder.
It looks like there’s nothing to do to exercise 2, but actually that’s a big deal! You need to work out a way to make a diagram of the code. It needs to be easy to understand, and help you keep track of what it’s doing. There are lots of formal ways to diagram code (UML, flow charts) but don’t let that constrain you. Think about what makes the most sense to you and also about how you could use it to explain it to someone else. Make sure that your diagram goes into your lab book. It will really help you to do the same thing for exercise 3 and 4 too.
Other than that, you should be pretty deep into your Holy Wars research. The notes for that should be going into your lab book too.