In a post from 2020, I wrote about various integer size values. Seems they don’t consistently sport the same bit width. Just recently, I’ve obtained some updated information and valuable insight into the bit width question.
Continue reading
Author Archives: dgookin
Cyclops Numbers
Difficulty: ★ ★ ★ ☆
Oh, leave it to the propeller heads to devise a clever and fun name for something the rest of us never pay attention to. This time it’s a cyclops number, which is any decimal integer value with an odd number of digits and a big fat zero in the middle — like a cyclops’ eye.
Continue reading
Help Me Figure Out This Trick
Occasionally the Wizards of C concoct a mad method to perform some magical feat on a number. This sorcery cannot be explained using those scant, basic math concepts known to me. So perhaps you’d like to invest a few moments to review what I consider to be one of the most insane ways to discover the maximum power of two that can divide any integer.
Continue reading
Counting the Digits
I am not a math genius, as any math genius who reviews my work is happy to tell me. Even so, when programming I’m often faced with math challenges where a math education would benefit. My most recent puzzle is how to count the number of digits in a value without first converting the value into a string.
Continue reading
Converting Month Strings to Integers
I saw this problem on stackoverflow: How can you take a month string and convert it into an integer value, one through 12? The student submitting the query used a long if-else if-else construction. I have a better idea.
Continue reading
From ‘A’ and ‘a’ to ‘Z’ and ‘z’ – Solution
I don’t believe one definitive solution exists for this month’s Exercise: Output a string of upper- and lowercase letters. No, the challenge is more to discover different insights a coder has to a specific problem.
Continue reading
Going Mad for Mod
I have two questions when it comes to using the %
operator: Is it modulus or modulo? And which value comes first?
Continue reading
From ‘A’ and ‘a’ to ‘Z’ and ‘z’
Difficulty: ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
Here’s an easy exercise to try, something for those first learning C programming but also a challenge for experienced users: Output the alphabet A to Z in both upper and lowercase letters. It’s an “easy” exercise only when you don’t explore the possibilities.
Continue reading
Forcing a Decision
Programs often ask questions: yes-or-no and multiple choice. The user must select one of the given options, which I refer to as forcing a decision. Your goal as programmer is to pester the user to input a valid choice.
Continue reading
Returning a Non-Static String
It’s possible to return a string created in a function without declaring it static. This trick requires some understanding of how functions return values. Nerd alert!
Continue reading