Conway's Game of Life help me understand this unexpected output - c++
I would like some help understanding why my program is printing a grid of
....................
....................
....................
....................
....................
...............OOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOO.......
....................
....................
....................
The correct output would be so:
....................
....................
....................
....................
....................
....................
....................
.............O.O....
..............OO....
..............O.....
The way I wrote it is to create a copy of the old state and manipulate it using the rules of the game. After I check every cell, I store count of the number of neighbors alive for that cell. IF the count is greater than 3 or less than two, the cell will die.
If a cell has a count of 2 or 3 neighbors, it remains alive.
If a dead cell has a count of 3, it becomes alive.
These rules are directly applied to the copy version instead of the old and then print the copy.
I've tried using a debugger but I'm still unsure of how to use it properly. I haven't notice any red flags as of yet.
Here's my code:
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
using std::vector;
using std::cout;
vector<vector<bool> > world = {
{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0},
{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0},
{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,0,0,0,0},
{0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0}
};
void generate(const vector<vector<bool> >&g,vector<vector<bool> >&newworld)
{
int count = 0;
newworld = g;
for(size_t i = 0; i < g.size();i++) {
for(size_t j = 0; j < g[i].size();j++) {
int x = g.size(); //I rows
int y = g[i].size(); //J columns
//wrap the edges with formula (x+n)%n where n = NumOfRows or NumOfCol
if(g[(((i+1)+x)%x)][(((j-1)+y)%y)]==true){//top left
count++;
}
else if(g[(((i+1)+x)%x)][j]==true){//top middle
count++;
}
else if(g[(((i+1)+x)%x)][(((j+1)+y)%y)]==true){//top right
count++;
}
else if(g[i][(((j-1)+y)%y)]==true){//left cell
count++;
}
else if(g[i][(((j+1)+y)%y)]==true){//right cell
count++;
}
else if(g[(((i-1)+x)%x)][(((j-1)+y)%y)]==true){ //bottom left
count++;
}
else if(g[(((i-1)+x)%x)][j]==true){//bottom middle
count++;
}
else if(g[(((i-1)+x)%x)][(((j+1)+y)%y)]==true){//bottom right
count++;
}
if (g[i][j]) {
if(count > 3 || count < 2) {//if alive cell has more than 3 or less than 2, die
newworld[i][j] = false;
}
else if (count == 2 || count == 3) { //remain the same
newworld[i][j] = g[i][j];
}
}
else if (g[i][j] == false) {//dead come alive
if(count == 3) {
newworld[i][j] = true;
}
}
}
}
}
void display(vector<vector<bool> >&a)
{
for(size_t row = 0; row <a.size(); row++) {
for(size_t column = 0; column <a[row].size(); column++){
if (a[row][column]) {
cout << 'O';
}
else {
cout << '.';
}
}
cout << '\n';
}
}
int main()
{
vector<vector<bool> > newworld;
generate(world,newworld);
display(newworld);
return 0;
}
The function generate has (at least) two problem.
count is initialized outside the nested loops, so it's never reset to zero (as it should, for every cell) and keeps growing.
All the conditions are mutually exclusive, so whenever one it's met, the others are skipped. There shouldn't be any else if, but only ifs.
Keeping the data structure you chose, you can rewrite that function as
using gof_t = std::vector<std::vector<bool>>;
void generate(gof_t& g, gof_t& newworld)
{
for(size_t i = 0, x = g.size(); i < x; i++)
{
for(size_t j = 0, y = g[i].size(); j < y; j++)
{
size_t i_prev = (i + x - 1) % x;
size_t i_next = (i + 1) % x;
size_t j_prev = (j + y - 1) % y;
size_t j_next = (j + 1) % y;
int count = g[i_prev][j_prev] + g[i_prev][j] + g[i_prev][j_next]
+ g[i ][j_prev] + g[i ][j_next]
+ g[i_next][j_prev] + g[i_next][j] + g[i_next][j_next];
newworld[i][j] = g[i][j] ? (count == 2 || count == 3) : (count == 3);
}
}
std::swap(g, newworld); // <-- Passing by non const reference, we can swap without copying
}
Live (pun intended), here.
Related
Sparse matrix compressed on rows in C++
I have to implement the CSR matrix data structure in C++ using 3 dynamic arrays (indexing starts at 0) and I've got stuck. So I have to implement 2 functions: 1) modify(int i, int j, TElem e) - modifies the value of (i,j) to e or adds if (if it does not exist) or deletes it if e is null. 2) element(int i, int j) const - returns the value found on (i,j) I wanted to test my code in the next way: Matrix m(4,4); m.print(); It will print: Lines: 0 0 0 0 0 Columns: Values: (And this is fine) Now if I want to modify: m.modify(1,1,5); //The element (1,1) will be set to 5 The output of m.print(); will be: Lines: 0 1 1 1 1 Columns: 1 Values: 5 (which again is fine) And now if I want to print m.element(1, 1) it will return 0 and m.element(0, 1) will return 5. This is my implementation of element(int i, int j) : int currCol; for (int pos = this->lines[i]; pos < this->lines[i+1]; pos++) { currCol = this->columns[pos]; if (currCol == j) return this->values[pos]; else if (currCol > j) break; } return NULL_TELEM; The constructor looks like this: Matrix::Matrix(int nrLines, int nrCols) { if (nrLines <= 0 || nrCols <= 0) throw exception(); this->nr_lines = nrLines; this->nr_columns = nrCols; this->values = new TElem[100]; this->values_capacity = 1; this->values_size = 0; this->lines = new int[nrLines + 1]; this->columns = new TElem[100]; this->columns_capacity = 1; this->columns_size = 0; for (int i = 0; i <= nrLines; i++) this->lines[i] = NULL_TELEM; } This is the "modify" method: TElem Matrix::modify(int i, int j, TElem e) { if (i < 0 || j < 0 || i >= this->nr_lines || j >= nr_columns) throw exception(); int pos = this->lines[i]; int currCol = 0; for (; pos < this->lines[i + 1]; i++) { currCol = this->columns[pos]; if (currCol >= j) break; } if (currCol != j) { if (!(e == 0)) add(pos, i, j, e); } else if (e == 0) remove(pos, i); else this->values[pos] = e; return NULL_TELEM; } And this is the inserting method: void Matrix::add(int index, int line, int column, TElem value) { this->columns_size++; this->values_size++; for (int i = this->columns_size; i >= index + 1; i--) { this->columns[i] = this->columns[i - 1]; this->values[i] = this->values[i - 1]; } this->columns[index] = column; this->values[index] = value; for (int i = line; i <= this->nr_lines; i++) //changed to i = line + 1; this->lines[i]++; } Can somebody help me, please? I can't figure out why this happens and I really need to finish this implementation these days. It just can't pass the next test. And if I want to print the elements i have (4,0)=0 (4,1)=0 ... (4,8)=0 and (4,9)=3. Now this looks pretty weird why it happens. void testModify() { cout << "Test modify" << endl; Matrix m(10, 10); for (int j = 0; j < m.nrColumns(); j++) m.modify(4, j, 3); for (int i = 0; i < m.nrLines(); i++) for (int j = 0; j < m.nrColumns(); j++) if (i == 4) assert(m.element(i, j) == 3); //cout << i << " " << j << ":" << m.element(i, j)<<'\n'; else assert(m.element(i, j) == NULL_TELEM); }
When you call modify(1, 1, 5) with an empty matrix (all zeros), that results in a call to add(0, 1, 1, 5). That increments columns_size and values_size (both to 1), the for loop body will not execute, you update columns[0] to 1 and values[0] to 5, then increment all the lines values starting at element lines[1], setting them all to 1 (lines[0] will still be 0). But lines[1] should indicate the element we just added, so it should be 0, since the value is found using columns[0]. The for loop at the end of add should start at element line + 1.
Knight Tour Index and Moving Algorithm Bugs
The goal of this program is for the knight to move around the chest board and only touching each spot once. Each spot is initialized and set to zero by default. As the knight moves, each spot the knight touches should correspond with the number of moves taken to reach that point. However, I am having quite a few problems 1) My Knight is moving around the board and going either out of bound of the multidimensional chess board array or manipulates the movement arrays (horizontal[] and vertical[]) 2) The conditions of my boolean functions MoveOnBoard && MoveHasNotBeenMade are that if the next possible move is between the exisiting rows and columns also if the spot being moved to has a value of 0(meaning it has yet to be moved to). However, both of these conditions seem to be ignored. How would I go about fixing this? Thank you in advance! Here's the code below using namespace std; #include <iostream> #include <array> void DefinedMoveSet(); void RenderBoard(); void MoveKnight(int& moveChoice, int& numberOfMovesMade); void PossibleMoves(); bool MoveOnBoard(int& moveChoice); bool MoveHasNotBeenMade(int& moveChoice); // Two single dimenisional arrays to store move positions for the Knight // Arrays have yet to be assigned values int vertical[8], horizontal[8]; int currentRow = 4, currentColumn = 3; // Initializing an array with the dimension 8 * 8 int chestBoard[8][8] = { 0 }; int main() { DefinedMoveSet(); PossibleMoves(); RenderBoard(); cin.ignore(); return 0; } void RenderBoard() { // The outer loop goes through each row until it reaches 8 for (int boardRow = 0; boardRow < 8; boardRow++) { // The inner loop takes in the specific row for (int boardColumn = 0; boardColumn < 8; boardColumn++) { // Then iterates through the columns of that row until it reaches 8 // Each index is seperated by a tab escape key shortcut cout << chestBoard[boardRow][boardColumn] << "\t"; } // Back to the inner array a new line is printed for the next row cout << "\n"; } } void DefinedMoveSet() { // Values for the horizontal array at each index horizontal[0] = 2; horizontal[1] = 1; horizontal[2] = -1; horizontal[3] = -2; horizontal[4] = -2; horizontal[5] = -1; horizontal[6] = 1; horizontal[7] = 2; // Values for the vertical array at each index vertical[0] = -1; vertical[1] = -2; vertical[2] = -2; vertical[3] = -1; vertical[4] = 1; vertical[5] = 2; vertical[6] = 2; vertical[7] = 1; } bool MoveOnBoard(int& moveChoice) { int futureRow = currentRow + vertical[moveChoice]; int futureColumn = currentColumn + horizontal[moveChoice]; if ((0 < futureRow) && (0 < futureColumn) && (futureRow < 8) && (futureColumn < 8)) return true; } bool MoveHasNotBeenMade(int& moveChoice) { int futureRow = currentRow + vertical[moveChoice]; int futureColumn = currentColumn + horizontal[moveChoice]; if (chestBoard[futureRow][futureColumn] == 0) return true; } void PossibleMoves() { bool movesStillExist = true; int numberOfMovesMade = 1; while (numberOfMovesMade < 65 && movesStillExist) { for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++) { if (i == 8) movesStillExist = false; if (MoveOnBoard(i) && MoveHasNotBeenMade(i)) { numberOfMovesMade++; MoveKnight(i, numberOfMovesMade); } } } } void MoveKnight(int &moveChoice, int &numberOfMovesMade) { // Takes in the int moveNumber as a parameter // MoveNumber(or case) must be between 0 and 7 // if there is not a case for the value then the knight will not move //chestBoard[currentRow][currentColumn] = numberOfMovesMade; currentRow += vertical[moveChoice]; currentColumn += horizontal[moveChoice]; chestBoard[currentRow][currentColumn] = numberOfMovesMade; }
in MoveOnBoardand and in MoveHasNotBeenMade instead of if(...) return true; should be if(...) return true; return false; if condtion == false, function returning not void reach end without return statement.
With the advice from the comments I received, I was able to fix the index issues as well as the return value of the boolean functions. My main problem was that I was not breaking out of the previous loop after moving. Easily solved by this if statement if (MoveOnBoard(i) && MoveHasNotBeenMade(i)) { MoveKnight(i); break; } I was trying to achieve this by telling the compiler if (i == 8) movesStillExist = false; As pointed out by #Aziuth this condition will never be met because a move at that index does not exist. So instead for my purposes I changed that condition to be if (i == 7) movesStillExist = false; Also for the index issues my logic was a little off if (((0 <= futureRow) && (0 <= futureColumn)) && ((futureRow < 8) && (futureColumn < 8))) return true; // if the future row and column are in bounds then return true return false; // else the default is false Also, my code is not idealistic for c++. Having so many global variables and not enough commenting. Please understand that the use of single and multidimensional arrays are required due to this being a challenge for my c++ course. bool MoveOnBoard(int& moveChoice) { int futureRow = currentRow + vertical[moveChoice]; int futureColumn = currentColumn + horizontal[moveChoice]; if (((0 <= futureRow) && (0 <= futureColumn)) && ((futureRow < 8) && (futureColumn < 8))) return true; return false; } bool MoveHasNotBeenMade(int& moveChoice) { int futureRow = currentRow + vertical[moveChoice]; int futureColumn = currentColumn + horizontal[moveChoice]; if (chestBoard[futureRow][futureColumn] == 0) return true; return false; } void PossibleMoves() { bool movesStillExist = true; while (numberOfMovesMade < 65 && movesStillExist) { for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++) { if (MoveOnBoard(i) && MoveHasNotBeenMade(i)) { MoveKnight(i); break; } if (i == 7) movesStillExist = false; } } } void MoveKnight(int &moveChoice) { // Takes in the int moveNumber as a parameter // MoveNumber(or case) must be between 0 and 7 // if there is not a case for the value then the knight will not move chestBoard[currentRow][currentColumn] = numberOfMovesMade; numberOfMovesMade++; currentRow += vertical[moveChoice]; currentColumn += horizontal[moveChoice]; chestBoard[currentRow][currentColumn] = numberOfMovesMade; }
Trouble with DFS in solving coastline length
I'm trying to solve one problem, which I found on website https://open.kattis.com/problems/coast. Tl;dr version of problem is, that for given map of landscape, I should print out length of coastline (without inner islands). My idea was, to solve this by adding additional layer and then start DFS, so the algorithm will walk through every possible tile in map, and then watch on every tile, how many borders are around the tile. However, for specific input, is my algorithm not working. When I've submitted the solution on this site (open.kattis), it says, that my program is giving wrong answer in 9th of 26 tests (previous 8 test were ok), but without any further explanation. Can somebody look at my program, and say me, why is it bad? Where did I do mistake? Thanks #include <iostream> #include <stack> #include <sstream> using namespace std; int main() { string line; getline(cin, line); int rows = 0; int columns = 0; stringstream stream(line); stream >> rows; stream >> columns; int map[rows][columns]; for (int i = 0; i < rows; i++) { getline(cin, line); for (int j = 0; j < columns; j++) { map[i][j] = line[j] - 48; } } //parsed landscape into 2d array // int rows = 5; // int columns = 6; // int map[rows][columns] = { // {0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0,}, // {0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0,}, // {1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0,}, // {0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0,}, // {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,}, // }; int bigMap[rows+2][columns+2]; bool visited[rows+2][columns+2]; //create bigger map, so DFS can start from corner and assume //that there is water around everywhere //also initialize array visited for DFS //add 2 new rows, before and after existing one for (int i = 0; i < columns+2; i++) { bigMap[0][i] = 0; bigMap[rows + 1][i] = 0; visited[0][i] = false; visited[rows + 1][i] = false; } //add 2 new columns, before and after existing //copy original map to new one for (int i = 0; i < rows; i++) { bigMap[i+1][0] = 0; bigMap[i+1][columns + 1] = 0; visited[i+1][0] = false; visited[i+1][columns + 1] = false; for (int j = 0; j < columns; j++) { bigMap[i+1][j+1] = map[i][j]; visited[i+1][j+1] = false; } } rows += 2; columns += 2; //starting DFS int x = 0, y = 0; //visited[x][y] = true; <-- edit pair <int, int> coordinates; coordinates.first = x; coordinates.second = y; stack<pair <int, int> > st; //first vertex in stack st.push(coordinates); //total sum of borders int borders = 0; while(!st.empty()) { //check coordinates in each round x = st.top().first; y = st.top().second; //navigate to new vertex (only if new vertex wasn't visited (visited[x][y] == 0) and only //if there is water (bigMap[x][y] == 0) and check if new vertex is still in the map //if there is no possible vertex, then we reached the end so then pop the vertex and //look in another way if (visited[x][y+1] == 0 && bigMap[x][y+1] == 0 && y + 1 < columns) { y++; coordinates.second = y; st.push(coordinates); } else { if (visited[x+1][y] == 0 && bigMap[x+1][y] == 0 && x + 1 < rows) { x++; coordinates.first = x; st.push(coordinates); } else { if (visited[x][y-1] == 0 && bigMap[x][y-1] == 0 && y > 0) { y--; coordinates.second = y; st.push(coordinates); } else { if (visited[x-1][y] == 0 && bigMap[x-1][y] == 0 && x > 0) { x--; coordinates.first = x; st.push(coordinates); } else { st.pop(); continue; } } } } //visited new vertex, so look around him and count borders visited[x][y] = true; if (bigMap[x][y+1] == 1 && y + 1 < columns) borders++; if (bigMap[x+1][y] == 1 && x + 1< rows) borders++; if (bigMap[x][y-1] == 1 && y > 0) borders++; if (bigMap[x-1][y] == 1 && x > 0) borders++; } cout << borders << endl; return 0;
The issue is that you are reusing the variable coordinates each time around the loop without setting it to the correct value. Your if test cascade is assuming that coordinates is set to the current location. This is only true while you are descending in your dfs. Once you start ascending again, the coordinate will be pointing to the wrong place. Simple solution, add coordinates = st.top(); at the top of your loop. Here is a sample map that it will currently get wrong. 5 6 000000 011100 001010 000100 000000 Answer should be 14, but currently you get 18 as the program reaches the lake at row 3, column 4. To check that it is doing this, add a debugging line at the end of your loop, where it is adding the borders. cout << "adding " << x << " " << y << "\n"; You can then verify if the program is considering any locations it shouldn't.
I think it will fail for {1,0,0,0},{0,1,1,0},{0,1,1,0},{0,0,0,0}. This is because the walk through is prevented from completing due to setting visited=true for vertex 0,0. Set it false for 0,0 instead should improve things. Hope it helps.
Loop through 2D array diagonally with random board size
I was wondering how I can loop through a two dimentional array if the size of the array is random, e.g 6x6 or 10x10 etc. The idea is to search for four of the same kind of characters, 'x' or 'o'. This is typically needed for a board game. int main() { int array_size = 5; // Size of array int array_height = array_size; bool turn = true; // true = player 1, false = player 2 bool there_is_a_winner = false; char** p_connect_four = new char*[array_size]; for (int i = 0; i < array_size; i++) // Initialise the 2D array { // At the same time set a value "_" as blank field p_connect_four[i] = new char[array_size]; for (int j = 0; j < array_size; j++) { p_connect_four[i][j] = '_'; } } } This is what I have so far, checking from [3][0] to [0][3]. But this requires me to add 2 more for loops to check [4][0] to [0][4] and [4][1] to [1][4] IF the size of the board was 5x5. for (int i = 3, j = 0; i > 0 && j < array_size; i--, j++ ) {// CHECK DOWN up right from 3,0 -> 0,3 if (p_connect_four[i][j] == p_connect_four[i - 1][j + 1] && p_connect_four[i][j] != '_' ) { check_diagonalRight++; if (check_diagonalRight == 3) { there_is_a_winner = true; break; } } else { check_diagonalRight = 0; } } if (there_is_a_winner) { // Break while loop of game. break; } Obviously I want to check the whole board diagonally to the right regardless of the size of the board. Is there any other way than having 3 separate for loops for checking [3][0] -> [0][3] , [4][0] -> [0][4] and [4][1]-> [1][4] ?
for (i = array_size - 1, j = array_size - 2; i < array_size && i >= 0, j < array_size && j >= 0; j--) { // starts from [4][3] and loops to the left if arraysize = 5x5 // but works on any size int k = i, l = j; for (k, l; k < array_size && k > 0, l < array_size && l > 0; k--, l++) { // checks diagonally to the right if (check_diagonalRight == 3) { there_is_a_winner = true; break; } if (p_connect_four[k][l] == p_connect_four[k - 1][l + 1] && p_connect_four[k][l] != '_') { //check up one square and right one square check_diagonalRight++; } else { check_diagonalRight = 0; // if its not equal, reset counter. } } if (there_is_a_winner) { break; // break for loop } } if (there_is_a_winner) { break; // break while loop of game } This checks up and right no matter the size, implement it for the other angles as well and it will work for any board size. You could potentially check right and left diagonal at once with nested loops.
This will work perfectly fine for your program! I hope so! int arraySize = 8; for(int i=0, j=0; i<arraySize && j<arraySize; i++, j++) { if((i == 0 && j == 0) || (i == arraySize - 1 && j == arraySize - 1)) { continue; } else { int k = i; int l = j; //This Loop will check from central line (principal diagonal) to up right side (like slash sign / (representing direction)) for(k, l; k>0 && l < arraySize - 1; k--, l++) { //Here check your condition and increment to your variable. like: if (p_connect_four[k][l] == p_connect_four[k - 1][l + 1] && p_connect_four[k][l] != '_' ) { check_diagonalRight++; } } //You can break the loop here if check_diagonalRight != k then break k = i; l = j; //This Loop will check from central line (principal diagonal) to down left side (like slash sign / (representing direction)) for(k, l; k<arraySize - 1 && l > 0; k++, l--) { //Here check your condition and increment to your variable. like: if (p_connect_four[k][l] == p_connect_four[k + 1][l - 1] && p_connect_four[k][l] != '_' ) { check_diagonalRight++; } } if(check_diagonalRight == i+j+1) { there_is_a_winner = true; break; } } }
I suggest to surround your board with extra special cases to avoid to check the bound. To test each direction I suggest to use an array of offset to apply. Following may help: #include <vector> using board_t = std::vector<std::vector<char>>; constexpr const std::size_t MaxAlignment = 4; enum Case { Empty = '_', X = 'X', O = 'O', Bound = '.' }; enum class AlignmentResult { X, O, None }; // Create a new board, valid index would be [1; size] because of surrounding. board_t new_board(std::size_t size) { // Create an empty board board_t board(size + 2, std::vector<char>(size + 2, Case::Empty)); // Add special surround. for (std::size_t i = 0; i != size + 2; ++i) { board[0][i] = Case::Bound; board[size + 1][i] = Case::Bound; board[i][0] = Case::Bound; board[i][size + 1] = Case::Bound; } return board_t; } // Test a winner from position in given direction. AlignmentResult test( const board_t& board, std::size_t x, std::size_t y, int offset_x, int offset_y) { if (board[x][y] == Case::Empty) { return AlignmentResult::None; } for (std::size_t i = 1; i != MaxAlignment; ++i) { // Following condition fails when going 'out of bound' thanks to Case::Bound, // else you have also to check size... if (board[x][y] != board[x + i * offset_x][y + i * offset_y]) { return AlignmentResult::None; } } if (board[x][y] == Case::X) { return AlignmentResult::X; } else { return AlignmentResult::O; } } // Test a winner on all the board AlignmentResult test(const board_t& board) { // offset for direction. Use only 4 direction because of the symmetry. const int offsets_x[] = {1, 1, 1, 0}; const int offsets_y[] = {-1, 0, 1, 1}; const std::size_t size = board.size() - 1; for (std::size_t x = 1; x != size; ++x) { for (std::size_t y = 1; y != size; ++y) { for (std::size_t dir = 0; dir != 4; ++dir) { // for each directions auto res = test(board, x, y, offsets_x[dir], offsets_y[y]); if (res != AlignmentResult::None) { return res; } } } } return AlignmentResult::None; }
Placing random numbers in a grid
I need to place numbers within a grid such that it doesn't collide with each other. This number placement should be random and can be horizontal or vertical. The numbers basically indicate the locations of the ships. So the points for the ships should be together and need to be random and should not collide. I have tried it: int main() { srand(time(NULL)); int Grid[64]; int battleShips; bool battleShipFilled; for(int i = 0; i < 64; i++) Grid[i]=0; for(int i = 1; i <= 5; i++) { battleShips = 1; while(battleShips != 5) { int horizontal = rand()%2; if(horizontal == 0) { battleShipFilled = false; while(!battleShipFilled) { int row = rand()%8; int column = rand()%8; while(Grid[(row)*8+(column)] == 1) { row = rand()%8; column = rand()%8; } int j = 0; if(i == 1) j= (i+1); else j= i; for(int k = -j/2; k <= j/2; k++) { int numberOfCorrectLocation = 0; while(numberOfCorrectLocation != j) { if(row+k> 0 && row+k<8) { if(Grid[(row+k)*8+(column)] == 1) break; numberOfCorrectLocation++; } } if(numberOfCorrectLocation !=i) break; } for(int k = -j/2; k <= j/2; k++) Grid[(row+k)*8+(column)] = 1; battleShipFilled = true; } battleShips++; } else { battleShipFilled = false; while(!battleShipFilled) { int row = rand()%8; int column = rand()%8; while(Grid[(row)*8+(column)] == 1) { row = rand()%8; column = rand()%8; } int j = 0; if(i == 1) j= (i+1); else j= i; for(int k = -j/2; k <= j/2; k++) { int numberOfCorrectLocation = 0; while(numberOfCorrectLocation != i) { if(row+k> 0 && row+k<8) { if(Grid[(row)*8+(column+k)] == 1) break; numberOfCorrectLocation++; } } if(numberOfCorrectLocation !=i) break; } for(int k = -j/2; k <= j/2; k++) Grid[(row)*8+(column+k)] = 1; battleShipFilled = true; } battleShips++; } } } } But the code i have written is not able to generate the numbers randomly in the 8x8 grid. Need some guidance on how to solve this. If there is any better way of doing it, please tell me... How it should look: What My code is doing: Basically, I am placing 5 ships, each of different size on a grid. For each, I check whether I want to place it horizontally or vertically randomly. After that, I check whether the surrounding is filled up or not. If not, I place them there. Or I repeat the process. Important Point: I need to use just while, for loops..
You are much better of using recursion for that problem. This will give your algorithm unwind possibility. What I mean is that you can deploy each ship and place next part at random end of the ship, then check the new placed ship part has adjacent tiles empty and progress to the next one. if it happens that its touches another ship it will due to recursive nature it will remove the placed tile and try on the other end. If the position of the ship is not valid it should place the ship in different place and start over. I have used this solution in a word search game, where the board had to be populated with words to look for. Worked perfect. This is a code from my word search game: bool generate ( std::string word, BuzzLevel &level, CCPoint position, std::vector<CCPoint> &placed, CCSize lSize ) { std::string cPiece; if ( word.size() == 0 ) return true; if ( !level.inBounds ( position ) ) return false; cPiece += level.getPiece(position)->getLetter(); int l = cPiece.size(); if ( (cPiece != " ") && (word[0] != cPiece[0]) ) return false; if ( pointInVec (position, placed) ) return false; if ( position.x >= lSize.width || position.y >= lSize.height || position.x < 0 || position.y < 0 ) return false; placed.push_back(position); bool used[6]; for ( int t = 0; t < 6; t++ ) used[t] = false; int adj; while ( (adj = HexCoord::getRandomAdjacentUnique(used)) != -1 ) { CCPoint nextPosition = HexCoord::getAdjacentGridPositionInDirection((eDirection) adj, position); if ( generate ( word.substr(1, word.size()), level, nextPosition, placed, lSize ) ) return true; } placed.pop_back(); return false; } CCPoint getRandPoint ( CCSize size ) { return CCPoint ( rand() % (int)size.width, rand() % (int)size.height); } void generateWholeLevel ( BuzzLevel &level, blockInfo* info, const CCSize &levelSize, vector<CCLabelBMFont*> wordList ) { for ( vector<CCLabelBMFont*>::iterator iter = wordList.begin(); iter != wordList.end(); iter++ ) { std::string cWord = (*iter)->getString(); // CCLog("Curront word %s", cWord.c_str() ); vector<CCPoint> wordPositions; int iterations = 0; while ( true ) { iterations++; //CCLog("iteration %i", iterations ); CCPoint cPoint = getRandPoint(levelSize); if ( generate (cWord, level, cPoint, wordPositions, levelSize ) ) { //Place pieces here for ( int t = 0; t < cWord.size(); t++ ) { level.getPiece(wordPositions[t])->addLetter(cWord[t]); } break; } if ( iterations > 1500 ) { level.clear(); generateWholeLevel(level, info, levelSize, wordList); return; } } } } I might add that shaped used in the game was a honeycomb. Letter could wind in any direction, so the code above is way more complex then what you are looking for I guess, but will provide a starting point. I will provide something more suitable when I get back home as I don't have enough time now.
I can see a potential infinite loop in your code int j = 0; if(i == 1) j= (i+1); else j= i; for(int k = -j/2; k <= j/2; k++) { int numberOfCorrectLocation = 0; while(numberOfCorrectLocation != i) { if(row+k> 0 && row+k<8) { if(Grid[(row)*8+(column+k)] == 1) break; numberOfCorrectLocation++; } } if(numberOfCorrectLocation !=i) break; } Here, nothing prevents row from being 0, as it was assignd rand%8 earlier, and k can be assigned a negative value (since j can be positive). Once that happens nothing will end the while loop. Also, I would recommend re-approaching this problem in a more object oriented way (or at the very least breaking up the code in main() into multiple, shorter functions). Personally I found the code a little difficult to follow.
A very quick and probably buggy example of how you could really clean your solution up and make it more flexible by using some OOP: enum Orientation { Horizontal, Vertical }; struct Ship { Ship(unsigned l = 1, bool o = Horizontal) : length(l), orientation(o) {} unsigned char length; bool orientation; }; class Grid { public: Grid(const unsigned w = 8, const unsigned h = 8) : _w(w), _h(h) { grid.resize(w * h); foreach (Ship * sp, grid) { sp = nullptr; } } bool addShip(Ship * s, unsigned x, unsigned y) { if ((x <= _w) && (y <= _h)) { // if in valid range if (s->orientation == Horizontal) { if ((x + s->length) <= _w) { // if not too big int p = 0; //check if occupied for (int c1 = 0; c1 < s->length; ++c1) if (grid[y * _w + x + p++]) return false; p = 0; // occupy if not for (int c1 = 0; c1 < s->length; ++c1) grid[y * _w + x + p++] = s; return true; } else return false; } else { if ((y + s->length) <= _h) { int p = 0; // check for (int c1 = 0; c1 < s->length; ++c1) { if (grid[y * _w + x + p]) return false; p += _w; } p = 0; // occupy for (int c1 = 0; c1 < s->length; ++c1) { grid[y * _w + x + p] = s; p += _w; } return true; } else return false; } } else return false; } void drawGrid() { for (int y = 0; y < _h; ++y) { for (int x = 0; x < _w; ++x) { if (grid.at(y * w + x)) cout << "|S"; else cout << "|_"; } cout << "|" << endl; } cout << endl; } void hitXY(unsigned x, unsigned y) { if ((x <= _w) && (y <= _h)) { if (grid[y * _w + x]) cout << "You sunk my battleship" << endl; else cout << "Nothing..." << endl; } } private: QVector<Ship *> grid; unsigned _w, _h; }; The basic idea is create a grid of arbitrary size and give it the ability to "load" ships of arbitrary length at arbitrary coordinates. You need to check if the size is not too much and if the tiles aren't already occupied, that's pretty much it, the other thing is orientation - if horizontal then increment is +1, if vertical increment is + width. This gives flexibility to use the methods to quickly populate the grid with random data: int main() { Grid g(20, 20); g.drawGrid(); unsigned shipCount = 20; while (shipCount) { Ship * s = new Ship(qrand() % 8 + 2, qrand() %2); if (g.addShip(s, qrand() % 20, qrand() % 20)) --shipCount; else delete s; } cout << endl; g.drawGrid(); for (int i = 0; i < 20; ++i) g.hitXY(qrand() % 20, qrand() % 20); } Naturally, you can extend it further, make hit ships sink and disappear from the grid, make it possible to move ships around and flip their orientation. You can even use diagonal orientation. A lot of flexibility and potential to harness by refining an OOP based solution. Obviously, you will put some limits in production code, as currently you can create grids of 0x0 and ships of length 0. It's just a quick example anyway. I am using Qt and therefore Qt containers, but its just the same with std containers.
I tried to rewrite your program in Java, it works as required. Feel free to ask anything that is not clearly coded. I didn't rechecked it so it may have errors of its own. It can be further optimized and cleaned but as it is past midnight around here, I would rather not do that at the moment :) public static void main(String[] args) { Random generator = new Random(); int Grid[][] = new int[8][8]; for (int battleShips = 0; battleShips < 5; battleShips++) { boolean isHorizontal = generator.nextInt(2) == 0 ? true : false; boolean battleShipFilled = false; while (!battleShipFilled) { // Select a random row and column for trial int row = generator.nextInt(8); int column = generator.nextInt(8); while (Grid[row][column] == 1) { row = generator.nextInt(8); column = generator.nextInt(8); } int lengthOfBattleship = 0; if (battleShips == 0) // Smallest ship should be of length 2 lengthOfBattleship = (battleShips + 2); else // Other 4 ships has the length of 2, 3, 4 & 5 lengthOfBattleship = battleShips + 1; int numberOfCorrectLocation = 0; for (int k = 0; k < lengthOfBattleship; k++) { if (isHorizontal && row + k > 0 && row + k < 8) { if (Grid[row + k][column] == 1) break; } else if (!isHorizontal && column + k > 0 && column + k < 8) { if (Grid[row][column + k] == 1) break; } else { break; } numberOfCorrectLocation++; } if (numberOfCorrectLocation == lengthOfBattleship) { for (int k = 0; k < lengthOfBattleship; k++) { if (isHorizontal) Grid[row + k][column] = 1; else Grid[row][column + k] = 1; } battleShipFilled = true; } } } } Some important points. As #Kindread said in an another answer, the code has an infinite loop condition which must be eliminated. This algorithm will use too much resources to find a solution, it should be optimized. Code duplications should be avoided as it will result in more maintenance cost (which might not be a problem for this specific case), and possible bugs. Hope this answer helps...