• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 22:47
CET 04:47
KST 12:47
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT0Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book16Clem wins HomeStory Cup 289HomeStory Cup 28 - Info & Preview13Rongyi Cup S3 - Preview & Info8
Community News
Weekly Cups (Feb 9-15): herO doubles up0ACS replaced by "ASL Season Open" - Starts 21/0224LiuLi Cup: 2025 Grand Finals (Feb 10-16)43Weekly Cups (Feb 2-8): Classic, Solar, MaxPax win2Nexon's StarCraft game could be FPS, led by UMS maker13
StarCraft 2
General
ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT Weekly Cups (Feb 9-15): herO doubles up Nexon's StarCraft game could be FPS, led by UMS maker How do you think the 5.0.15 balance patch (Oct 2025) for StarCraft II has affected the game? StarCraft 1 & 2 Added to Xbox Game Pass
Tourneys
LiuLi Cup: 2025 Grand Finals (Feb 10-16) WardiTV Team League Season 10 PIG STY FESTIVAL 7.0! (19 Feb - 1 Mar) $5,000 WardiTV Winter Championship 2026 StarCraft Evolution League (SC Evo Biweekly)
Strategy
Custom Maps
Map Editor closed ? [A] Starcraft Sound Mod
External Content
Mutation # 513 Attrition Warfare The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 512 Overclocked Mutation # 511 Temple of Rebirth
Brood War
General
TvZ is the most complete match up Gypsy to Korea Which units you wish saw more use in the game? Ladder maps - how we can make blizz update them? BW General Discussion
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 1 Small VOD Thread 2.0 KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 1
Strategy
Fighting Spirit mining rates Zealot bombing is no longer popular? Simple Questions, Simple Answers Current Meta
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread ZeroSpace Megathread Diablo 2 thread Path of Exile Battle Aces/David Kim RTS Megathread
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Ask and answer stupid questions here! Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
[Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books [Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
The Search For Meaning in Vi…
TrAiDoS
My 2025 Magic: The Gathering…
DARKING
Life Update and thoughts.
FuDDx
How do archons sleep?
8882
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 2512 users

The Big Programming Thread - Page 860

Forum Index > General Forum
Post a Reply
Prev 1 858 859 860 861 862 1032 Next
Thread Rules
1. This is not a "do my homework for me" thread. If you have specific questions, ask, but don't post an assignment or homework problem and expect an exact solution.
2. No recruiting for your cockamamie projects (you won't replace facebook with 3 dudes you found on the internet and $20)
3. If you can't articulate why a language is bad, don't start slinging shit about it. Just remember that nothing is worse than making CSS IE6 compatible.
4. Use [code] tags to format code blocks.
Nesserev
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Belgium2760 Posts
March 10 2017 19:52 GMT
#17181
--- Nuked ---
Blisse
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Canada3710 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-03-10 20:40:39
March 10 2017 20:16 GMT
#17182
Haha, I'm glad people enjoyed that question. It was memorable to me because I was annoyed about the time limit as well when I was doing it the first time and didn't finish.

In hindsight I think it's a good question: it has a lot of pretty straightforward coding sections like palindrome, lends itself well to breaking down into parts, has lots of areas for optimizations, and then the short time limit adds a nice intensity given I think most people could find an okay solution in 30 minutes.

This takes me 4 minutes to code, but I have the advantage of knowing the question and my previous attempt :p

mfw trying to read slmw's O(n) solution... lol

+ Show Spoiler +

bool is_palindrome(string s) {
int left = 0;
int right = s.length() - 1;
while (left < right) {
if (s[left] != s[right]) {
return false;
}
left++;
right--;
}
return true;
}

int longest_palindrome(vector<string> text) {
int max_length = 0;
for (string s: text) {
for (int i = 0; i < s.length(); i++) {
for (int j = s.length() - 1; j > i && (j - i + 1) > max_length; j--) {
if (s[i] == s[j] && is_palindrome(s.substr(i, j - i + 1))) {
max_length = max(max_length, j - i + 1);
}
}
}
}
return max_length;
}

int main() {
vector<string> text = {
"carracecar",
"aabbaa",
"aabbbabab"
};

for (string s: text) {
cout << is_palindrome(s) << endl;
}

cout << longest_palindrome(text) << endl;

return 0;
}
There is no one like you in the universe.
Fwmeh
Profile Joined April 2008
1286 Posts
March 11 2017 09:39 GMT
#17183
I'm not sure that I understand the complexity analysis of that proposed O(n) solution. I would treat a for-loop with a nested while bound by the length (and half the length is still bound by the length) of the string as O(n^2).

Best I could do, certainly more than 5 minutes. https://ideone.com/M4tVmS. O(n^2), but reasonably good constants.
A parser for things is a function from strings to lists of pairs of things and strings
meatpudding
Profile Joined March 2011
Australia520 Posts
March 11 2017 09:55 GMT
#17184
I guess it's really O(nm) where n is the word length and m is the palindrome length.
Be excellent to each other.
slmw
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Finland233 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-03-11 12:54:34
March 11 2017 12:53 GMT
#17185
The algorithm in question is Manacher's algorithm. The idea is that we maintain the currently rightmost palindrome, which means that we can look up some of the answers from the left side of the current palindrome since it's simply a mirrored case. The while loop will fail on the first iteration any time we are inside a larger palindrome and don't update the rightmost palindrome. If we need to expand the current palindrome, we update the rightmost palindrome. That means on each iteration we either move the current rightmost palindrome further or do an O(1) copying of a value. The rightmost palindrome can move only at most N times, so the whole algorithm is O(N) per string.

If you try every substring (N^2) in a string and check if it is a palindrome you get an O(N^3) algorithm. That is what Fwmeh's and many others' solution is doing. If you try every midpoint and expand until it is no longer a palindrome, you get an O(N^2) algorithm. This is what travis's solution was doing for odd palindromes.
Manit0u
Profile Blog Joined August 2004
Poland17663 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-03-13 14:14:27
March 13 2017 14:08 GMT
#17186
Does anyone here know any resources where I can dig up some imposition calculation algorithms for printing presses?

I've got new assignment today: rewrite old PHP library as new Ruby gem. Sounds simple enough, but then there's a couple of problems:

  • no documentation
  • no tests
  • entire library is a single class that's 4k lines long (basically no empty lines)
  • at the top of class the error reporting is being disabled (which doesn't bode well)
  • there's plenty of magic arbitrary numbers and overall code readability is on par with assembler
  • loops nested 6 deep with other control statements spread throughout
  • 2k lines of configuration
  • large arrays in global variables, which are being manipulated in different ways by different functions (reversed, reversed with reindexing, values moved around and changed etc. etc.)


After nearly 7 hours of sifting through it I simply gave up trying to understand what's going on in there and I'm looking to simply write this shit from scratch. So, if you know of any resources or ready libraries (any language) that deal with this kind of stuff, please help...

+ Show Spoiler [sample] +


function build_collect_placement_array($sect=1){
$count_pairs = count($this->grid_build_used[$sect]);
$inc = 1;
for ($x = 1; $x <= $count_pairs; $x++){ // build an array for each of the two pair numbering patterns
if ($inc > 0) {
if ($x == 1) {
$add_a = 1; // first instance
} else {
$add_a = $arr_b[$x-1] + $inc;
}
if ($add_a==$count_pairs){
$add_b = $add_a;
$inc = -2;
} else {
$add_b = $add_a + $inc;
}
if (($add_b==$count_pairs)&&($add_a!=$count_pairs)){
$inc = 0;
}
} else {
if ($inc == 0) {
$add_b = $arr_b[$x-1];
$inc = -1;
} elseif ($inc == -2) {
$add_b = $arr_b[$x-1] + $inc;
} else {
$add_b = $arr_a[$x-1] + $inc;
}
if ($inc == -2) {
$add_a = $add_b + 1;
} else {
$add_a = $add_b + $inc;
}
}
$arr_a[$x] = $add_a;
$arr_b[$x] = $add_b;
}
$place_arr_a = $arr_a;
$place_arr_b = $arr_b;

$keep_count=1;
for ($x = 1; $x <= 4; $x++){ // loop for each column
for ($y = 1; $y <= $count_pairs; $y++){ // create array for pair placement
$final_pr_arr[$y+($count_pairs*2*($x-1))] = $place_arr_a[$y];
$final_pr_arr[$y+($count_pairs*2*($x-1))+$count_pairs] = $place_arr_b[$y];
}
if (((($count_pairs % 2)==0)||($x==1)||($x==3))&&(($this->grid_cols != 2)||((($this->grid_cols == 2)&&($count_pairs % 2)==0)))){
$temp_arr = $place_arr_a;
$place_arr_a = $place_arr_b;
$place_arr_b = $temp_arr;
}
for ($y = 1; $y <= 2; $y++){ //
for ($z = 1; $z <= 2; $z++){ // build the sub-grid pattern
$inc=0;
if (($count_pairs % 2)==1){ // there is an odd number of pairs
if (($x == 1)||($x == 4)){
if (($y == 1)&&($z == 2)){
$inc=1;
}
if (($y == 2)&&($z == 1)){
$inc=1;
}
}
if (($x == 2)||($x == 3)){
if (($y == 1)&&($z == 1)){
$inc=1;
}
if (($y == 2)&&($z == 2)){
$inc=1;
}
}
if (($this->grid_cols == 2)&&($x == 2)){ // different sub-grid pattern for 4-up
if ((($y == 1)&&($z == 2))||(($y == 2)&&($z == 1))){
$inc=1;
} else {
$inc=0;
}
}
}
for ($a = 1; $a <= (ceil($count_pairs/2)-$inc); $a++){ // create array for sub-grid placement
$final_sg_arr[$keep_count] = $x*2-(2-$z);
$keep_count++;
}
}
}
}
if(is_array($final_pr_arr)) {
foreach ($final_pr_arr as $key => $final_pr_val){
$final_arr[$key]["pair"] = $final_pr_val;
$final_arr[$key]["subgrid"] = $final_sg_arr[$key];
}
ksort($final_arr);
return $final_arr;
}
return null;
}


One of my favorites:

list($rows, $columns) = array($columns, $rows);

Time is precious. Waste it wisely.
BluzMan
Profile Blog Joined April 2006
Russian Federation4235 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-03-13 15:56:57
March 13 2017 15:54 GMT
#17187
On March 13 2017 23:08 Manit0u wrote:
Does anyone here know any resources where I can dig up some imposition calculation algorithms for printing presses?

I've got new assignment today: rewrite old PHP library as new Ruby gem. Sounds simple enough, but then there's a couple of problems:

  • no documentation
  • no tests
  • entire library is a single class that's 4k lines long (basically no empty lines)
  • at the top of class the error reporting is being disabled (which doesn't bode well)
  • there's plenty of magic arbitrary numbers and overall code readability is on par with assembler
  • loops nested 6 deep with other control statements spread throughout
  • 2k lines of configuration
  • large arrays in global variables, which are being manipulated in different ways by different functions (reversed, reversed with reindexing, values moved around and changed etc. etc.)


After nearly 7 hours of sifting through it I simply gave up trying to understand what's going on in there and I'm looking to simply write this shit from scratch. So, if you know of any resources or ready libraries (any language) that deal with this kind of stuff, please help...

+ Show Spoiler [sample] +


function build_collect_placement_array($sect=1){
$count_pairs = count($this->grid_build_used[$sect];
$inc = 1;
for ($x = 1; $x <= $count_pairs; $x++){ // build an array for each of the two pair numbering patterns
if ($inc > 0) {
if ($x == 1) {
$add_a = 1; // first instance
} else {
$add_a = $arr_b[$x-1] + $inc;
}
if ($add_a==$count_pairs){
$add_b = $add_a;
$inc = -2;
} else {
$add_b = $add_a + $inc;
}
if (($add_b==$count_pairs)&&($add_a!=$count_pairs)){
$inc = 0;
}
} else {
if ($inc == 0) {
$add_b = $arr_b[$x-1];
$inc = -1;
} elseif ($inc == -2) {
$add_b = $arr_b[$x-1] + $inc;
} else {
$add_b = $arr_a[$x-1] + $inc;
}
if ($inc == -2) {
$add_a = $add_b + 1;
} else {
$add_a = $add_b + $inc;
}
}
$arr_a[$x] = $add_a;
$arr_b[$x] = $add_b;
}
$place_arr_a = $arr_a;
$place_arr_b = $arr_b;

$keep_count=1;
for ($x = 1; $x <= 4; $x++){ // loop for each column
for ($y = 1; $y <= $count_pairs; $y++){ // create array for pair placement
$final_pr_arr[$y+($count_pairs*2*($x-1))] = $place_arr_a[$y];
$final_pr_arr[$y+($count_pairs*2*($x-1))+$count_pairs] = $place_arr_b[$y];
}
if (((($count_pairs % 2)==0)||($x==1)||($x==3))&&(($this->grid_cols != 2)||((($this->grid_cols == 2)&&($count_pairs % 2)==0)))){
$temp_arr = $place_arr_a;
$place_arr_a = $place_arr_b;
$place_arr_b = $temp_arr;
}
for ($y = 1; $y <= 2; $y++){ //
for ($z = 1; $z <= 2; $z++){ // build the sub-grid pattern
$inc=0;
if (($count_pairs % 2)==1){ // there is an odd number of pairs
if (($x == 1)||($x == 4)){
if (($y == 1)&&($z == 2)){
$inc=1;
}
if (($y == 2)&&($z == 1)){
$inc=1;
}
}
if (($x == 2)||($x == 3)){
if (($y == 1)&&($z == 1)){
$inc=1;
}
if (($y == 2)&&($z == 2)){
$inc=1;
}
}
if (($this->grid_cols == 2)&&($x == 2)){ // different sub-grid pattern for 4-up
if ((($y == 1)&&($z == 2))||(($y == 2)&&($z == 1))){
$inc=1;
} else {
$inc=0;
}
}
}
for ($a = 1; $a <= (ceil($count_pairs/2)-$inc); $a++){ // create array for sub-grid placement
$final_sg_arr[$keep_count] = $x*2-(2-$z);
$keep_count++;
}
}
}
}
if(is_array($final_pr_arr)) {
foreach ($final_pr_arr as $key => $final_pr_val){
$final_arr[$key]["pair"] = $final_pr_val;
$final_arr[$key]["subgrid"] = $final_sg_arr[$key];
}
ksort($final_arr);
return $final_arr;
}
return null;
}


One of my favorites:

list($rows, $columns) = array($columns, $rows);


Looks like regular production code to me, also pretty well-formed. At least this doesn't have 20 global declarations at the start of each function like our code did.

Based on the sample you provided I would definitely try to reuse it, deep control structure nesting does not necessarily imply redundancy, it might just be that the field is actually that difficult. In that was the case, rewriting it from scratch would be a pretty stupid thing to do. Maybe start with writing tests for the parts you understand and slowly increase the coverage as your understanding grows? Could also refactor obvious subroutines into functions, etc.

Throwing working code away and rewriting from scratch is almost never a good idea.

One of my favorites:

list($rows, $columns) = array($columns, $rows);


That is a pretty creative way to do a swap one-liner Can you implement cpp-style swap with references in php? Don't remember the exact way they work.
You want 20 good men, but you need a bad pussy.
Deleted User 3420
Profile Blog Joined May 2003
24492 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-03-13 17:27:20
March 13 2017 17:26 GMT
#17188
I am studying for my discrete math midterm. Here is a question that an old exam asks:

Prove:
If a, b, c and d are consecutive integers, 4 | abcd.

*please note that this is under the heading "formal proofs"


So my answer is:

+ Show Spoiler +

Any 4 consecutive numbers (a,b,c,d) must contain a multiple of 4. Therefore 4 can be factored from a*b*c*d. Therefore 4|abcd.


Here is what the answer key says:

+ Show Spoiler +

Without loss of generality, assume that a is an even number. From a known theorem in class, we know that consecutive integers have opposite parity, which means that b is odd, and c is even. By the definition of even parity, this means that there exist integers k_1, k_2 such that a = 2k_1 and c = 2k_2 . Therefore, a · b · c · d = (2k_1) · b · (2k_2) · d = (4k_1k_2)bd = 4 (k_1k_2bd) m∈Z = 4m ⇔ 4|abcd.


So I guess my question is, does my answer suffice for a "formal" proof?
Also this question is dumb.
Acrofales
Profile Joined August 2010
Spain18216 Posts
March 13 2017 17:50 GMT
#17189
I think your answer is fine. Whether your teacher agrees i don't know...
tofucake
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
Hyrule19192 Posts
March 13 2017 17:51 GMT
#17190
Depends on how strict the grader is. Your answer is correct, but it's not a mathematical proof.
Liquipediaasante sana squash banana
Deleted User 3420
Profile Blog Joined May 2003
24492 Posts
March 13 2017 18:05 GMT
#17191
So technically to make it a mathematical proof I would need to do what? State step one mathematically and then prove the other steps by mathematically manipulating what I start with?
Biolunar
Profile Joined February 2012
Germany224 Posts
March 13 2017 18:15 GMT
#17192
There is no such thing as a “mathematical proof”. A proof is a proof, if it is correct independent of how it was proven.
Same goes of following example: ℕ = { n ∈ ℤ | n ≥ 0 } is not more “mathematically” than ℕ = { n ∈ ℤ | n is greater or equal to zero }, although the former is more formal.
What is best? To crush the Zerg, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of the Protoss.
Manit0u
Profile Blog Joined August 2004
Poland17663 Posts
March 13 2017 21:35 GMT
#17193
On March 14 2017 00:54 BluzMan wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 13 2017 23:08 Manit0u wrote:
Does anyone here know any resources where I can dig up some imposition calculation algorithms for printing presses?

I've got new assignment today: rewrite old PHP library as new Ruby gem. Sounds simple enough, but then there's a couple of problems:

  • no documentation
  • no tests
  • entire library is a single class that's 4k lines long (basically no empty lines)
  • at the top of class the error reporting is being disabled (which doesn't bode well)
  • there's plenty of magic arbitrary numbers and overall code readability is on par with assembler
  • loops nested 6 deep with other control statements spread throughout
  • 2k lines of configuration
  • large arrays in global variables, which are being manipulated in different ways by different functions (reversed, reversed with reindexing, values moved around and changed etc. etc.)


After nearly 7 hours of sifting through it I simply gave up trying to understand what's going on in there and I'm looking to simply write this shit from scratch. So, if you know of any resources or ready libraries (any language) that deal with this kind of stuff, please help...

+ Show Spoiler [sample] +


function build_collect_placement_array($sect=1){
$count_pairs = count($this->grid_build_used[$sect];
$inc = 1;
for ($x = 1; $x <= $count_pairs; $x++){ // build an array for each of the two pair numbering patterns
if ($inc > 0) {
if ($x == 1) {
$add_a = 1; // first instance
} else {
$add_a = $arr_b[$x-1] + $inc;
}
if ($add_a==$count_pairs){
$add_b = $add_a;
$inc = -2;
} else {
$add_b = $add_a + $inc;
}
if (($add_b==$count_pairs)&&($add_a!=$count_pairs)){
$inc = 0;
}
} else {
if ($inc == 0) {
$add_b = $arr_b[$x-1];
$inc = -1;
} elseif ($inc == -2) {
$add_b = $arr_b[$x-1] + $inc;
} else {
$add_b = $arr_a[$x-1] + $inc;
}
if ($inc == -2) {
$add_a = $add_b + 1;
} else {
$add_a = $add_b + $inc;
}
}
$arr_a[$x] = $add_a;
$arr_b[$x] = $add_b;
}
$place_arr_a = $arr_a;
$place_arr_b = $arr_b;

$keep_count=1;
for ($x = 1; $x <= 4; $x++){ // loop for each column
for ($y = 1; $y <= $count_pairs; $y++){ // create array for pair placement
$final_pr_arr[$y+($count_pairs*2*($x-1))] = $place_arr_a[$y];
$final_pr_arr[$y+($count_pairs*2*($x-1))+$count_pairs] = $place_arr_b[$y];
}
if (((($count_pairs % 2)==0)||($x==1)||($x==3))&&(($this->grid_cols != 2)||((($this->grid_cols == 2)&&($count_pairs % 2)==0)))){
$temp_arr = $place_arr_a;
$place_arr_a = $place_arr_b;
$place_arr_b = $temp_arr;
}
for ($y = 1; $y <= 2; $y++){ //
for ($z = 1; $z <= 2; $z++){ // build the sub-grid pattern
$inc=0;
if (($count_pairs % 2)==1){ // there is an odd number of pairs
if (($x == 1)||($x == 4)){
if (($y == 1)&&($z == 2)){
$inc=1;
}
if (($y == 2)&&($z == 1)){
$inc=1;
}
}
if (($x == 2)||($x == 3)){
if (($y == 1)&&($z == 1)){
$inc=1;
}
if (($y == 2)&&($z == 2)){
$inc=1;
}
}
if (($this->grid_cols == 2)&&($x == 2)){ // different sub-grid pattern for 4-up
if ((($y == 1)&&($z == 2))||(($y == 2)&&($z == 1))){
$inc=1;
} else {
$inc=0;
}
}
}
for ($a = 1; $a <= (ceil($count_pairs/2)-$inc); $a++){ // create array for sub-grid placement
$final_sg_arr[$keep_count] = $x*2-(2-$z);
$keep_count++;
}
}
}
}
if(is_array($final_pr_arr)) {
foreach ($final_pr_arr as $key => $final_pr_val){
$final_arr[$key]["pair"] = $final_pr_val;
$final_arr[$key]["subgrid"] = $final_sg_arr[$key];
}
ksort($final_arr);
return $final_arr;
}
return null;
}


One of my favorites:

list($rows, $columns) = array($columns, $rows);


Looks like regular production code to me, also pretty well-formed. At least this doesn't have 20 global declarations at the start of each function like our code did.

Based on the sample you provided I would definitely try to reuse it, deep control structure nesting does not necessarily imply redundancy, it might just be that the field is actually that difficult. In that was the case, rewriting it from scratch would be a pretty stupid thing to do. Maybe start with writing tests for the parts you understand and slowly increase the coverage as your understanding grows? Could also refactor obvious subroutines into functions, etc.

Throwing working code away and rewriting from scratch is almost never a good idea.

Show nested quote +
One of my favorites:

list($rows, $columns) = array($columns, $rows);


That is a pretty creative way to do a swap one-liner Can you implement cpp-style swap with references in php? Don't remember the exact way they work.


It doesn't have 20 global declarations at each function. It has 60 at the top of the file though. Swap one-liner is clever, but it comes out of the blue and is buried deep in other logic (also with functions that span several hundred lines it's easy to miss).

I have to pretty much rewrite it anyway since I have to do it in another language. I've started with various utility functions around the code, but it's hard to implement some of the larger methods since no documentation or anything and magic numbers are bad (also, pi with 5 digit precision jumped at me out of nowhere, no explanation why 5 digits or how important it is...). I've been reading some books from 1895 on imposition, also some Rockwell patents I found on Google. It's damn complicated stuff
Time is precious. Waste it wisely.
Liebig
Profile Joined August 2010
France738 Posts
March 13 2017 21:44 GMT
#17194
On March 14 2017 02:26 travis wrote:
I am studying for my discrete math midterm. Here is a question that an old exam asks:

Prove:
If a, b, c and d are consecutive integers, 4 | abcd.

*please note that this is under the heading "formal proofs"


So my answer is:

+ Show Spoiler +

Any 4 consecutive numbers (a,b,c,d) must contain a multiple of 4. Therefore 4 can be factored from a*b*c*d. Therefore 4|abcd.


Here is what the answer key says:

+ Show Spoiler +

Without loss of generality, assume that a is an even number. From a known theorem in class, we know that consecutive integers have opposite parity, which means that b is odd, and c is even. By the definition of even parity, this means that there exist integers k_1, k_2 such that a = 2k_1 and c = 2k_2 . Therefore, a · b · c · d = (2k_1) · b · (2k_2) · d = (4k_1k_2)bd = 4 (k_1k_2bd) m∈Z = 4m ⇔ 4|abcd.


So I guess my question is, does my answer suffice for a "formal" proof?
Also this question is dumb.

I think it's fine, but I would play it safe if it was in the first few questions of the exam and just answer like that

We can assume without loss of generality that b=a+1, c=a+2, d=a+3.
If a=0[4] then a*b*c*d is clearly a multiple of 4
If a=1[4] then d=0[4] and etc

Atreides
Profile Joined October 2010
United States2393 Posts
March 13 2017 21:51 GMT
#17195
On March 14 2017 02:26 travis wrote:
I am studying for my discrete math midterm. Here is a question that an old exam asks:

Prove:
If a, b, c and d are consecutive integers, 4 | abcd.

*please note that this is under the heading "formal proofs"


So my answer is:

+ Show Spoiler +

Any 4 consecutive numbers (a,b,c,d) must contain a multiple of 4. Therefore 4 can be factored from a*b*c*d. Therefore 4|abcd.


Here is what the answer key says:

+ Show Spoiler +

Without loss of generality, assume that a is an even number. From a known theorem in class, we know that consecutive integers have opposite parity, which means that b is odd, and c is even. By the definition of even parity, this means that there exist integers k_1, k_2 such that a = 2k_1 and c = 2k_2 . Therefore, a · b · c · d = (2k_1) · b · (2k_2) · d = (4k_1k_2)bd = 4 (k_1k_2bd) m∈Z = 4m ⇔ 4|abcd.


So I guess my question is, does my answer suffice for a "formal" proof?
Also this question is dumb.


Every math professor in the world here is just looking for you to say there is two even numbers bla bla bla. It's ez to formalize.

Jumping straight to divisible by four is obviously doable but slightly harder to formalize. For a question like that the entire thing is formalizing something intuitively obvious so I can't imagine any prof giving full credit for your answer.
Hanh
Profile Joined June 2016
146 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-03-14 01:26:41
March 14 2017 01:10 GMT
#17196
On March 14 2017 03:05 travis wrote:
So technically to make it a mathematical proof I would need to do what? State step one mathematically and then prove the other steps by mathematically manipulating what I start with?


You can only use theorems and axioms that were given to you during your class, so I wouldn't call your answer a formal proof.

Edit:
1. Use the canonical injection to go from N to Z/4Z.
2. By definition, you get 4 different equivalent classes of Z/4Z.
3. Z/4Z has cardinality 4. Therefore one of the classes must be 0.
4. the product is 0
5. Therefore the product is a multiple of 4.
Prillan
Profile Joined August 2011
Sweden350 Posts
March 14 2017 18:33 GMT
#17197
On March 14 2017 03:05 travis wrote:
So technically to make it a mathematical proof I would need to do what? State step one mathematically and then prove the other steps by mathematically manipulating what I start with?

You need to state why the things you do are true. Ask "why?" until you reach an already proved result.
To get you started:
Any 4 consecutive numbers (a,b,c,d) must contain a multiple of 4.

Why?
TheBB's sidekick, aligulac.com | "Reality is frequently inaccurate." - Douglas Adams
Blisse
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Canada3710 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-03-15 02:10:03
March 14 2017 22:49 GMT
#17198
To add onto everyone's answers, I believe the problem is you're not rigorous enough with your terminology. A formal proof has a certain structure because the structure makes reasoning very clear. In your answer, you've skipped those structures, but the proof is still mostly comprehensible because the domain is pretty straight-forward. But it's likely that the purpose of these exercises is to teach you these concepts in preparation for later proofs - eventually having the concepts translate to programming logic - so skipping these structures kind of misses the point of the lesson.

Now to go over your answer. Correct me if I am wrong, but "multiple" and "factor" are not words in the theorems you've been taught. They are obvious mathematical definitions and results of the theorems, and maybe part of some related, unpresented corollary due to those definitions, but they essentially aren't part of your set of premises. The goal of these exercises is to have you conceptualize how to infer the result, given the premises. Using these "unrelated" concepts and jumping from result to result is what is I meant by not being rigorous.


> Any 4 consecutive numbers (a,b,c,d) must contain a multiple of 4. (1)

Is this true? It looks like it's true, but how do I prove that? Is it so trivially true that it's unnecessary to show (1*n = n)? Is this the result of some theorem that I know (n|a-b => a === b mod n)? This result is intuitive, in that it's easy enough to convince yourself that this must be true, but how do you show that in writing?

> Therefore 4 can be factored from a*b*c*d. (2)

What did factored come from and what factored mean? Are you saying that "multiple of n" implies "factor out by n"?

> Therefore 4|abcd. (3)

Are you saying that "factor n from x" implies "n | x"?


I think you'd have to enumerate all the cases in (1) to show a proof of it.


Suppose a,b,c,d are consecutive numbers.
Any 4 consecutive numbers (a,b,c,d) must contain 1 number which is a multiple of 4.
<show that this is true>
Without loss of generality, suppose a is divisible by 4.
Therefore there exists n such that a = 4n. (2)
Therefore there exists n such that abcd = 4nbcd.
If x == nbcd, then abcd = 4x.
From definitions, a | b iff a*n = b.
Therefore 4 | abcd. (3)
There is no one like you in the universe.
netherh
Profile Blog Joined November 2011
United Kingdom333 Posts
March 15 2017 04:29 GMT
#17199
On March 15 2017 07:49 Blisse wrote:
Suppose a,b,c,d are consecutive numbers.
Any 4 consecutive numbers (a,b,c,d) must contain 1 number which is a multiple of 4.
<show that this is true>
Without loss of generality, suppose a is divisible by 4.
Therefore there exists n such that a = 4n. (2)
Therefore there exists n such that abcd = 4nbcd.
If x == nbcd, then abcd = 4x.
From definitions, a | b iff a*n = b.
Therefore 4 | abcd. (3)


Probably dumb questions:

What does the line in 4 | abcd mean?
What does "without loss of generality" mean, and why do you use it there?
tofucake
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
Hyrule19192 Posts
March 15 2017 04:35 GMT
#17200
4 | abcd means "4 divides abcd"
Liquipediaasante sana squash banana
Prev 1 858 859 860 861 862 1032 Next
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
OSC
00:00
OSC Elite Rising Star #17.5
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
RuFF_SC2 265
Nathanias 129
StarCraft: Brood War
Artosis 715
sorry 120
yabsab 108
Noble 65
NaDa 51
Icarus 6
Light 0
Dota 2
monkeys_forever901
NeuroSwarm172
febbydoto31
LuMiX2
League of Legends
JimRising 698
Reynor74
Counter-Strike
taco 598
m0e_tv323
Other Games
summit1g12803
Day[9].tv830
C9.Mang0576
WinterStarcraft316
KnowMe164
Maynarde141
Trikslyr66
ZombieGrub39
minikerr7
Organizations
Other Games
BasetradeTV127
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 15 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• HeavenSC 44
• Response 3
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• Azhi_Dahaki4
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Scarra1934
Other Games
• Day9tv830
Upcoming Events
WardiTV Winter Champion…
8h 13m
PiGosaur Cup
21h 13m
Replay Cast
1d 5h
WardiTV Winter Champion…
1d 8h
Replay Cast
1d 20h
PiG Sty Festival
2 days
Maru vs Bunny
Classic vs SHIN
The PondCast
2 days
KCM Race Survival
2 days
WardiTV Winter Champion…
2 days
OSC
2 days
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
2 days
PiG Sty Festival
3 days
Clem vs Percival
Zoun vs Solar
Epic.LAN
3 days
Replay Cast
3 days
PiG Sty Festival
4 days
herO vs NightMare
Reynor vs Cure
CranKy Ducklings
4 days
Epic.LAN
4 days
Replay Cast
4 days
PiG Sty Festival
5 days
Serral vs YoungYakov
ByuN vs ShoWTimE
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Wardi Open
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

C-League Week 31
LiuLi Cup: 2025 Grand Finals
Underdog Cup #3

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 1
Nations Cup 2026
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual
eXTREMESLAND 2025
SL Budapest Major 2025

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S1: King of Kings
[S:21] ASL SEASON OPEN 1st Round
[S:21] ASL SEASON OPEN 1st Round Qualifier
Spring Cup 2026: China & Korea Invitational
[S:21] ASL SEASON OPEN 2nd Round
[S:21] ASL SEASON OPEN 2nd Round Qualifier
Acropolis #4
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Bellum Gens Elite Stara Zagora 2026
RSL Revival: Season 4
WardiTV Winter 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
CCT Season 3 Global Finals
FISSURE Playground #3
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League Season 23
ESL Pro League Season 23
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.