From: CHubas <CHubas7@...>
Date: 2007-01-27T05:40:08+09:00
Subject: Re: Counting Toothpicks (#111)



On Jan 26, 7:46 am, Ruby Quiz <j...@grayproductions.net> wrote:
> The three rules of Ruby Quiz:
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>
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> 3.  Enjoy!
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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.

Is there any specific rule to do group expressions? I mean, something
like
(( III x III ) + IIIII ) X III
is valid?

Thanks for the quiz.