Maximum Product Of Two Primes Less Than N
August 28, 2015
Today we have a fun little exercise based on prime numbers.
Given an integer n > 4, find the maximum product of two prime numbers such that the product is less than n. For instance, when n = 27, the maximum is 2 * 13 = 26, and when n = 50, the maximum is 7 * 7 = 49.
Your task is to write a program to find the maximum product of two primes less than n. When you are finished, you are welcome to read or run a suggested solution, or to post your own solution or discuss the exercise in the comments below.
Collect Sets Of Ranges
August 25, 2015
A frequent idiom in data processing is the control-break idiom, where some processing must be done every time there is a change in some value. A simple example comes from collecting ranges, for instance, converting the sequence 0, 1, 2, 7, 21, 22, 108, 109 to the ranges 0-2, 7, 21-22, 108-109, where a break occurs whenever two numbers aren’t consecutive.
Writing control-break programs can be difficult, for two reasons. First, you don’t know there is a break until you see the next record after the break, so you either need to look ahead in the input or keep track of what you have seen. Second, there is an implied break at the end of the input, which occurs when there is no record at all. Depending on the situation, either or both of those can be tricky.
Your task is to write a program that converts a sequence to a set of ranges, as shown above. When you are finished, you are welcome to read or run a suggested solution, or to post your own solution or discuss the exercise in the comments below.
Two Homework Problems
August 21, 2015
I can see from my statistics that the new academic year is beginning. Again, as in a previous exercise, in the spirit of helping programming students who are just starting a new school year, we have two typical homework problems:
1. Given an array of positive integers, find the inflection point where the total of the integers before the inflection point and the total of the integers after the inflection point are least different. For instance, given the array [3, 7, 9, 8, 2, 5, 6], the inflection point is between the 9 and 8, which leaves a total of 19 before the inflection point and 21 after, a difference of 2.
2. Write a program that reads a file from disk and writes the last n lines of the file, where n is an input parameter.
Your task is to write programs to solve these problems. When you are finished, you are welcome to read or run a suggested solution, or to post your own solution or discuss the exercise in the comments below.
K-Factorials And Factorions
August 18, 2015
We study today a topic from recreational mathematics. Factorions are numbers that are equal to the sum of the factorials of their digits. For instance, 145 is a factorion because 1! + 4! + 5! = 1 + 24 + 120 = 145. There are four factorions to base 10: 1, 2, 145 and 40585.
A double factorial, written n!!, is the product of all integers less than or equal to n that are congruent to n (mod 2). A triple factorial, written n!!!, is the product of all integers less than or equal to n that are congruent to n (mod 3). And so on for higher factorials. Thus, a double factorion is a number that is equal to the sum of the double factorials if its digits, a triple factorion is a number that is equal to the sum of the triple factorials of its digits, and so on. As an example, 81 is a triple factorion because 8!!! + 1!!! = 8*5*2 + 1 = 80 + 1 = 81.
It is also possible to consider factorions to bases other than 10. For instance, there are four factorions to base 6: 1, 2, 25, 26.
Your task is to write functions that allow you to explore the strange world of k-factorials and factorions; use your imagination to think of tasks that interest you. When you are finished, you are welcome to read or run a suggested solution, or to post your own solution or discuss the exercise in the comments below.
File Bundles
August 14, 2015
It is sometimes convenient to package a group of files into a bundle, for transmission to a different computer or for archiving. Nowadays the most likely method involves tar and gzip, but in the past a “shell archive” was frequently used; the files, which are assumed to include only printable ascii characters, are collected into a single program file that can be executed to self-extract the included files.
Your task is to write a program that creates file bundles. When you are finished, you are welcome to read or run a suggested solution, or to post your own solution or discuss the exercise in the comments below.
Bridge Hands
August 11, 2015
[ Thanks to all who wrote with good wishes after my post last Friday. I am fully recovered and back at work. ]
Newspapers and textbooks often print bridge hands in the format shown below, then discuss the proper playing of the hand:
NORTH
S: A Q J 10 8
H: 5 4 2
D: 9
C: 10 7 6 2
WEST EAST
S: 7 S: 6
H: Q J 7 6 3 H: K 10 8
D: J 10 6 4 3 D: A K Q 5
C: A 8 C: K 9 5 4 3
SOUTH
S: K 9 5 4 3 2
H: A 9
D: 8 7 2
C: Q J
Your task is to write a program to generate random bridge hands and print them in the format shown above. When you are finished, you are welcome to read or run a suggested solution, or to post your own solution or discuss the exercise in the comments below.
Public Service Announcement
August 7, 2015
Long-time readers of this blog will remember that five years ago I suffered a bi-lateral pulmonary embolism that nearly killed me; my right lung was 100% blocked, my left lung 60%. This past Tuesday evening I suffered a second pulmonary embolism. It was not nearly as serious as the first, I even went to work as normal on Wednesday, but with growing pain during the day I went to the hospital on Wednesday evening, was diagnosed, received medication to break up the clots — two shots in the belly, twelve hours apart, no fun I assure you — and came home Thursday afternoon.
Broadly speaking, there are two contributing factors to pulmonary embolism. The primary factor is blood chemistry, and that’s genetic; there’s nothing you can do about it, though if you know you are predisposed to blood clots, as I am, there is medication that can attenuate the risk — I’ll be talking to a hematologist in about two weeks. The secondary factor is lifestyle: smoking and obesity are both contra-indicated, as is a sedentary lifestyle. Sedentary in this context doesn’t mean sitting in front of a computer monitor for hours a day — recall that Serena Williams, one of the greatest tennis players of all time, had a pulmonary embolism a few years ago — it just means that you spend a few or several hours a day sitting still.
I assume that most of my readers are computer programmers, as I am, and spend much time sitting still. I urge you to get out of your chair every forty-five minutes or so and walk around for five or ten minutes to get your blood moving. It may save your life.
I’ll have another exercise for you next Tuesday.
Three Homework Problems
August 4, 2015
I get lots of emails, and even some comment postings, from students whe want help with their homework. I never respond, even to offer a hint or a simple word of encouragement. Sorry, but that’s not what I do. But many of my exercises are based on typical homework problems for programming students, and with a new academic year about to start, I figure now is a good time to write some typical homework exercises.
1. Write a function that takes as input three positive integers and finds the sum of the squares of the two largest of the three.
2. Write a function that takes a positive integer as input and determines if it is a base-10 palindrome.
3. Write a function that takes a positive integer as input and determines the number of trailing zeroes in the output of that number’s factorial.
Your task is to write the three requested functions in the manner of a beginning programming student. When you are finished, you are welcome to read or run a suggested solution, or to post your own solution or discuss the exercise in the comments below.
Programming Praxis 