diamond number

[comput14]

how to draw of diamond of the form

A
B-B
C---C
D-----D
C---C
B-B
A

the input data is D

can someone give me a rough idea on how to start the programe...i know its gt to do with for loop

[writetonsharma]

its too simple.. at least give it a try.. write some code so that someone can suggest the errors in your code..

[comput14]

can u give me n idea abt how to start the code?

the correct form should be ..
A
B-B
C---C
D-----D
C---C
B-B
A

[jsmith]

start writing program.cpp.

program.cpp will have a main() function in it. So write a main() function that does nothing.

now since you need to do input and output, you'll need to use cout. Which header file do you need to #include for cout? Add that #include to the top.

now, the first thing main() should do is output a message like "Enter a letter:" or something. Next, it should read in a character into a char. For simplicity's sake, convert the inputted character to uppercase. Use toupper() for this. You'll also need to figure out what header file declares toupper() and add it as an #include at the top.

Next, you need a loop that goes from 'A' to the (upper-cased) letter the user entered. Each time through the loop it should output 1 line, so the first time it should output A, the next time B-B, etc.

To make that happen generically, you should first output the necessary character. Then, if the letter you output is 'D' (for example), it looks like you should output a number of dashes equal to the number of characters between the one you outputted and 'A' times 2 minus 1. For example, 2 * ( 'D' - 'A' ) - 1 = 2 * 3 - 1 = 6 - 1 = 5.

Once that loop finishes, you've output half of the diamond. Next, you need a second loop that goes from one less than the (uppercase) letter the user entered back down to 'A', and you'll do something very similar in that loop.

[buffbill]

Something like this does it but its pretty clunky. How do you apply say the 5 in above example to obtain the correct spacing?

int main()
{
cout<<"    ";
char array[8][8]={0};
  for(int i=0;i<8;i++ )
  for(int j=0;j<8;j++)
   {if(i==0&&j==4)cout<<'A'<<endl;
   if(i==1&&j==3)cout<<"   "<<'B';
   if(i==1&&j==5)cout<<" "<<'B'<<endl;
   if(i==2&&j==2)cout<<"  "<<'C';
   if(i==2&&j==6)cout<<"   "<<'C'<<endl;
   if(i==3&&j==1)cout<<" "<<'D';
   if(i==3&&j==7)cout<<"     "<<'D'<<endl;
   if(i==4&&j==2)cout<<"  "<<'E';
   if(i==4&&j==6)cout<<"   "<<'E'<<endl;
  }
cout<<"...etc...";  
cout<<endl;  
system("PAUSE");
return 0;    
}

The letters print out without any dots.
.....A
...B.B
..C...C
.D.....D
..E...E
...etc...
Press any key to continue . .