From: James Edward Gray II <james@...>
Date: 2007-09-09T03:59:20+09:00
Subject: Fwd: Ruby Quiz Submission [resent in plain text]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Thomas, Mark - BLS CTR" <Thomas.Mark@bls.gov>
> Date: September 7, 2007 12:55:19 PM CDT
> To: <submission@rubyquiz.com>
> Subject: Ruby Quiz Submission [resent in plain text]
>
> #!/usr/bin/env ruby
> # I am a newbie and thought this one seemed easy enough
> # to jump in (especially since I "borrowed" the hard part
> # from a previous Ruby Quiz). I would appreciate any
> # comments improving my idiomatic ruby.
> # - Mark Thomas ['ruby','thomaszone.com'].join('@')
>
> # seed sentence
> sentence = "LOOK AND SAY"
>
> # iteration at which to give up (prevent runaway prog)
> MAX = 10000
>
> # I took this Monkey patched Integer class from
> # Glenn Parker's Ruby Quiz #25 solution, which
> # provides Integer#to_english
>
> class Integer
>   Ones = %w[ zero one two three four five six seven eight nine ]
>   Teen = %w[ ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen
>              sixteen seventeen eighteen nineteen ]
>   Tens = %w[ zero ten twenty thirty forty fifty
>              sixty seventy eighty ninety ]
>   Mega = %w[ none thousand million billion ]
>
>   def to_english
>     places = to_s.split(//).collect {|s| s.to_i}.reverse
>     name = []
>     ((places.length + 2) / 3).times do |p|
>       strings = Integer.trio(places[p * 3, 3])
>       name.push(Mega[p]) if strings.length > 0 and p > 0
>       name += strings
>     end
>     name.push(Ones[0]) unless name.length > 0
>     name.reverse.join(" ")
>   end
>
>   private
>
>   def Integer.trio(places)
>     strings = []
>     if places[1] == 1
>       strings.push(Teen[places[0]])
>     elsif places[1] and places[1] > 0
>       strings.push(places[0] == 0 ? Tens[places[1]] :
>                    "#{Tens[places[1]]}-#{Ones[places[0]]}")
>     elsif places[0] > 0
>       strings.push(Ones[places[0]])
>     end
>     if places[2] and places[2] > 0
>       strings.push("hundred", Ones[places[2]])
>     end
>     strings
>   end
> end
>
>
> def look_and_say(sentence)
>   letters = {}
>   letters.default = 0
>
>   #put letters in a hash
>   s = sentence.gsub(/[^A-Z]/,'')
>   s.split('').each do |letter|
>     letters[letter] = letters[letter] + 1
>   end
>
>   #say in english
>   new_sentence = "";
>   letters.sort.each do |letter,count|
>     new_sentence << " " + count.to_english.upcase +
>                     " " + letter
>   end
>   return new_sentence
> end
>
> #=================================================
> # Main
>
> puts "0. " + sentence
>
> sentences = []
>
> for i in 1..MAX
>   break if sentences.index(sentence)
>   print i.to_s + "."
>   sentences << sentence
>   new_sentence = look_and_say(sentence)
>   puts new_sentence
>   sentence = new_sentence
> end
>
> # Print Results
>
> dupe  = i-1
> first = sentences.index(sentence)
> cycle = dupe - first
>
> puts "Repeated at #{dupe} which was the same as #{first},"
> puts "a cycle of #{cycle}"
>