From: Krishna Dole <dontfall@...>
Date: 2007-01-27T00:22:44+09:00
Subject: Re: [QUIZ] Counting Toothpicks (#111)

Are minus signs allowed?

    ||||X||||-| = 15 (12 toothpicks)


Krishna

On 1/26/07, Ruby Quiz <james@grayproductions.net> wrote:
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> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>
> This quiz was adapted from an ACM programming challenge at the suggestion of
> Gavin Kistner.
>
> Simple math can be done with toothpicks alone.  Positive integers are just a
> count of toothpicks so three becomes |||.  We can use two toothpicks together to
> build a plus sign (+) or even tilt those slightly to get a multiplication
> operator (x).  Putting all of that together, the expression ||x||||+| is another
> way to express the number nine.
>
> This weeks quiz is to write a program that takes a single command-line argument
> which will be a positive integer.  Your code should build a toothpick expression
> to calculate the number using as few toothpicks as possible.  For example:
>
>         $ruby toothpick.rb 9
>         |||x||| = 9 (8 toothpicks)
>
> Don't forget to count those operators!
>
> Posting toothpick expressions and/or counts for a given number is not spoiler
> material.
>
>