44
\$\begingroup\$

You are to print this exact text:

ABABABABABABABABABABABABAB BCBCBCBCBCBCBCBCBCBCBCBCBC CDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCD DEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEDEDE EFEFEFEFEFEFEFEFEFEFEFEFEF FGFGFGFGFGFGFGFGFGFGFGFGFG GHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGH HIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHI IJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJIJ JKJKJKJKJKJKJKJKJKJKJKJKJK KLKLKLKLKLKLKLKLKLKLKLKLKL LMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLM MNMNMNMNMNMNMNMNMNMNMNMNMN NONONONONONONONONONONONONO OPOPOPOPOPOPOPOPOPOPOPOPOP PQPQPQPQPQPQPQPQPQPQPQPQPQ QRQRQRQRQRQRQRQRQRQRQRQRQR RSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRS STSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTST TUTUTUTUTUTUTUTUTUTUTUTUTU UVUVUVUVUVUVUVUVUVUVUVUVUV VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW WXWXWXWXWXWXWXWXWXWXWXWXWX XYXYXYXYXYXYXYXYXYXYXYXYXY YZYZYZYZYZYZYZYZYZYZYZYZYZ ZAZAZAZAZAZAZAZAZAZAZAZAZA

Specs

  • You can print all lowercase instead of all uppercase. However, case must be consistent throughout the output.
  • You may print one extra trailing linefeed.

Scoring

Since this is an alphabet wave that fluctuates to a small extent, your code should also be small in terms of byte-count. In fact, the smallest code in terms of byte-count wins.

Improve this question
\$\endgroup\$
13
  • 40
    \$\begingroup\$ Seriously, another alphabet challenge? \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 9, 2016 at 23:33
  • 6
    \$\begingroup\$ @NathanMerrill As numerous as they are, I don't think they are worthy of downvotes. (I do not imply you downvoted, I am merely saying.) \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 9, 2016 at 23:34
  • 14
    \$\begingroup\$ As long as the patterns are sufficiently different, I don't think it matters if we use the alphabet, decimal digits, asterisks and underscore, etc. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 9, 2016 at 23:35
  • 9
    \$\begingroup\$ @Dennis regardless of the characters used, its these type of "pattern" challenges that are getting overused, IMO. I don't think its offtopic, but I would enjoy some fresh air. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 9, 2016 at 23:40
  • 16
    \$\begingroup\$ It's clear there's no more demand for alphabet challenges - only 39 people answered in the first 15 hours... \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 10, 2016 at 15:23

99 Answers 99

Reset to default
1 2
3
4
0
\$\begingroup\$

RETURN, 23 bytes

'A'[␊'B'[␊'A␈13␋␄'␊°␇␂,

Try it here.

NOTE: Use the "Insert String" button and paste the above code in.

Explanation

Basically generates A-Z and B-Z and A at the end on the stack. Then the stack is duplicated 13 times, transposed, joined with a newline, and outputted.

Due to a bug that I just can't fix, 'A'[␊${25@}13␋␄'␊°␇␂, does not work.

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
2
  • \$\begingroup\$ A language using ␊ instead of a literal newline is weird... \$\endgroup\$ Commented Sep 30, 2016 at 16:01
  • \$\begingroup\$ No, I'm just putting it there to avoid confusion; newlines are range commands, so having ␊ there emphasizes that. It's the same with the other unprintables. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 1, 2016 at 13:57
0
\$\begingroup\$

Pyke, 13 bytes

GGt\a+]w-*,_X

Try it here!

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
0
\$\begingroup\$

C# - 159 138 bytes

var a="ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZA";for(int i=0;i<26;i++){for(int j=0;j<14;j++){Console.Write("{0}{1}",a[i],a[i+1]);}Console.WriteLine();}
Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
5
  • \$\begingroup\$ If you add A at the end of the alphabet you can change (i+1)%26 to i+1 \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 10, 2016 at 14:49
  • \$\begingroup\$ The alphabet can also be var and you don't need the .ToCharArray() as a string is already just that. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 10, 2016 at 14:53
  • \$\begingroup\$ Oh, thank you! This was my first time code golfing, so I'm happy to learn more. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 10, 2016 at 14:56
  • \$\begingroup\$ Creating the row in a variable and replacing the inner for with a while saves at least 13 additional bytes. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 10, 2016 at 15:08
  • \$\begingroup\$ You can save a few bytes by using string interpolation like this: Console.Write($"{a[i]}{a[i+1]}") which makes it 135 bytes \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 10, 2016 at 15:42
0
\$\begingroup\$

JAVA 9, 103 97 bytes

it works on JShell, provided by Java9 SDK.

for(int c=64,i;++c<91;)for(i=0;i<26;)System.out.print((char)((c-13+i%2)%26+65)+(i++<25?"":"\n"))
Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
0
\$\begingroup\$

ListSharp, 236 bytes

ROWS x=ROWSPLIT "A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,T,S,U,V,W,X,Y,Z,A" BY [","] [FOREACH NUMB IN 1 TO 26 AS i] { STRG t ="" [FOREACH NUMB IN 1 TO 13 AS j] { STRG e=GETLINE x [i] STRG r=GETLINE x [i+1] STRG t=t+e+r } ROWS s=s+t } SHOW=s

Feel free to comment if you want anything to be explained to you

Execution screenshot: Execution screenshot

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
0
\$\begingroup\$

Perl 6, 50 bytes

say .join x 13 for flat('A'..'Z','A').rotor(2=>-1)
Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
0
\$\begingroup\$

C, 77 74 71 bytes

Basically the same as the Python answer inspired by LeakyNun, Thanks to owacoder for puts :

f(i,j){for(i=0;++i<27;puts(""))for(j=13;--j;printf("%c%c",i+64,i%26+65));}

Usage:

f();

While mathematically (26-n)%26 == (-n)%26, this is not true for C, otherwise these two bytes can be shaved off. Using a count up loop for i resolves the problem

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
4
  • \$\begingroup\$ You can save two bytes by counting from 64: f(i,j){for(i=64;++i<91;printf("\n"))for(j=13;--j;printf("%c%c",i,i%91+65));} \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 10, 2016 at 8:33
  • \$\begingroup\$ Use puts("") instead of printf("\n") for printing a newline. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 10, 2016 at 12:30
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Advancid no you can't. that i%95 does not work \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 10, 2016 at 15:39
  • \$\begingroup\$ @owacoder Ah, good old puts. Only had putchar in mind. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 10, 2016 at 15:40
0
\$\begingroup\$

Java 8, 139 137 bytes

()->{for(int i=65,j=1;;j++){if(j>25){j=++i<91?1:0;System.out.println(); if(j==0)break;}System.out.print((char)i+""+(char)(i>89?65:i+1));}}
Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
1
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ chaning j==26 to j>25 allow you to save 1 byte. using multiple print statements when you are golfing in java cost you badly, and you could refactor it to use single print statement \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 10, 2016 at 15:25
0
\$\begingroup\$

EXCEL: 53 bytes

=REPT(CHAR(ROW(A1)+64)&CHAR(MOD(ROW(A1),26)+65),13)

Place in A1 and drag to desired length of wave (in this case, 26, one cell for each letter).

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
0
\$\begingroup\$

Improving on @gabe3886's answer (new account and not able to comment)

PHP 94 92 Bytes

<?php for($i=0;$i<26;)echo str_repeat(substr('ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZA',$i++,2),13)."\n";

However if you suppress notices, it's 92 90 bytes

<?php for(;@$i<26;)echo str_repeat(substr('ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZA',@$i++,2),13)."\n";
Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
5
  • \$\begingroup\$ Welcome to PPCG. You can golf this down to 79 bytes: for(;$i<26;)echo str_repeat(substr(ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZA,$i++,2),13)."↵";. Replace ↵ with an actual line break. As an additional note: You don't need to include the PHP opening tag and you don't need to handle notices. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 10, 2016 at 19:09
  • \$\begingroup\$ You can even save another 6 bytes, with a total of 73 bytes: for(;$i<26;)echo str_repeat(substr(implode(range(A,Z)).A,$i++,2),13)."↵"; \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 10, 2016 at 19:20
  • \$\begingroup\$ @insertusernamehere: Thanks! I wasn't too clear on the rules for this exchange (IE: does it include just functional code (no <?php tag) and/or would warnings be considered part of the output). I noticed in your second comment that range(A,Z) don't have the A and Z characters quoted. Is that abusing another PHP "feature"? \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 10, 2016 at 20:08
  • \$\begingroup\$ Yes, I've removed the quotes in both suggestions. When you run a string without quotes it should prompt something like Notice: Use of undefined constant which is fine here. But be careful, this won't work on strings with whitespaces or special characters etc. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 10, 2016 at 20:21
  • \$\begingroup\$ Right. I remember now. PHP will assume it's the literal character "A"(or "Z" or whatever), which is the same reason "foo $bar[baz]" interpolation works without the curly braces. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 10, 2016 at 20:25
0
\$\begingroup\$

Logo, 93 bytes

Here's a non-graphical Logo solution. Try it online with Calormen.com's interpreter.

to m:c type char 65+modulo:c 26end to b:a repeat 13[m:a-1 m:a] pr" end repeat 26[b repcount]
Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
0
\$\begingroup\$

VIM, 42

:h<_↵↵↵YZZP:s/./&\r/g↵^25↑y↑pG2↑aa↓^ggy13P

where:

  • ↵ is return,
  • ^ is ctrl + v
  • ↑ is the up arrow
  • ↓ is escape

I'm sure this can be golfed more. I'm new to VIM so any suggestions are appreciated.

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
0
\$\begingroup\$

Javascript(ES5), 107 99 bytes

for(var s="",i=-1;++i<676;)i&&!(i%26)&&(s+="\n"),s+=String.fromCharCode((i/26+i%2)%26+65);alert(s);
Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
2
  • \$\begingroup\$ console.log => alert. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 10, 2016 at 21:27
  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks for pointing that out! Made another small change as well. This is the part I'd really like to change "i&&!(i%26)", surely there's a better way of doing both checks here at once, or at least in a more concise way! I'd love any suggestions here! \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 10, 2016 at 22:08
0
\$\begingroup\$

python 3, 92 90 bytes

a=65 b=66 for i in range(312): if a>89:b=65 print(chr(a)+chr(b),end="") if (i+1)%12<1: a+=1 b+=1 print()

python 2, 80 bytes

a=65 b=66 for i in range(312): if a>89:b=65 print chr(a)+chr(b), if (i+1)%12<1: a+=1 b+=1 print

This program outputs AB AB AB AB... rather than ABABABAB... I'm not sure if this is allowed, but it's the best I can come up with.

EDIT:

Thanks @User902383 for you comment on @TAsk's post allowing me to shave off 2 bytes.

And thanks @NoOneIsHere for suggesting that I move to python 2 instead of 3, I've included a second program in python 2 with a new byte count.

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
3
  • \$\begingroup\$ You can remove the soace before b=65. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 11, 2016 at 3:11
  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks, I think I already had mentally omitted that when I counted it, just not taken it out of the code. Thanks anyway though. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 11, 2016 at 3:16
  • \$\begingroup\$ If you switch to python 2, you can replace print() with print, and print(...,end='') to print ..., (trailing comma). \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 11, 2016 at 3:21
0
\$\begingroup\$

Scala, 64 bytes

Can anyone improve on this?

(('A'to'Z'):+'A').sliding(2).map(_.mkString*13).foreach(println)
Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
0
\$\begingroup\$

Python 2.7, 65 bytes

Python 2 alternative using a recursive function

def l(a=0): print(chr(a+65)+chr(-~a%26+65))*13 if a<25:l(-~a)
Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
0
\$\begingroup\$

Vitsy, 29 bytes

So, instead of doing the typical thing, I used my two-dimensional stacking to generate the alphabets and then offset them by one from each other, alternating back and forth between them.

9a*d5*Hd\[:{:}]Y?y\[y\[O?]aO] 9a*d5*H Push an alphabet to the stack. 9a* Push 90 to the stack (character code 'Z') d5* Push 65 to the stack (character code 'A') H Pop a, b, push range (a, b) d\[:{:}] Establish the other stacks, while alternating. d\[ ] Do the bracketed code 13 times. : : Clone the stack. { Put the top item of the stack on the bottom. } Put the bottom item of the stack on the top. Y Discard a stack. (13*2+1-1 = 26) ? Rotate right a stack (we start on 'A' now) y\[y\[O?]aO] Output. y\[ ] Repeat the code in brackets number of stacks times (26). y\[ ] Repeat the code in brackets number of stack times (26). O Pop a, print a as a character. ? Go right a stack. aO Output a newline.

Try it online!

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
0
\$\begingroup\$

PHP, 70 66 64 Bytes

<?$a=A;$b=B;while($a!=AA)echo str_repeat($a++.($b++)[0],13)." ";

3 bytes short (if I would remove the <? as well) from @insertusernamehere answer. So close!

EDIT: Actually got it to 66 bytes (64 without the <?)! Doing A and B without quotes actually seem to work. Seems to be the shortest PHP one as time of write :D

EDIT 2: Also removed " " from AA. Still seems to be working.

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
0
\$\begingroup\$

Bash, 149, 115, 111, 106 bytes

for i in {0..25};{ printf $(printf %b%b \\`printf %o $[i+65]` \\`printf %o $[-~i%26+65]`)%.s {a..m};echo }

(thanks @manatwork, saved 34, 4 more bytes)

Bash, 140 bytes

(thanks @steeldriver)

for i in {0..25}; do printf "$(printf '%b%b' \\$(printf '%03o' $((i+65))) \\$(printf '%03o' $((-~i%26+65))))%.0s" {1..13}; printf \\n; done

Save to <file> and run as: /bin/bash <file>

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
5
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ $((…)) → $[…], '%b%b' → %b%b, printf \\n → echo, inner $(…) → `…`, do … done → { … }, %.0s → %.s, {1..13} → {a..m}. (Some of those you may find in Tips for golfing in Bash.) \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 22, 2016 at 12:30
  • \$\begingroup\$ Sorry, but { and } need separators around them. But there are still single quotes to remove around printf's format strings and what I forgot earlier, no need for the double quotes either. pastebin.com/s1h75e5i \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 22, 2016 at 14:42
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ One more thing: 65..90 in octal is 101..132, so they take 3 digits anyway, so %03o → %o. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 22, 2016 at 14:55
  • \$\begingroup\$ Sorry, seems I not explained the error well enough. As the code you posted failed with “line 1: syntax error near unexpected token `{printf'”, I edited it. Feel free to revert if you disagree. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 22, 2016 at 15:38
  • \$\begingroup\$ @manatwork copy-paste error on my part, thanks (-: \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 22, 2016 at 17:44
0
\$\begingroup\$

GNU sed, 95 bytes

s,^,@@@@@@@@@@@@@,;s,@,AB,g :;p y,ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ,BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZA, /^Z/!b

I wish the 'y' command had this syntax: y,A-Z,B-ZA,.

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
0
\$\begingroup\$

JavaScript, Z (90) bytes

for(i=65,b=66;i<91;++i,b=b<90?++b:65)console.log(Array(14).join(String.fromCharCode(i,b)))

To learn:

var start = 65, end = 90; for (var i = start, b = i+1; i <= end; ++i) { var chars = String.fromCharCode(i, b); /* repeat chars 14 times */ console.log(Array(14).join(chars)); }
Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
2
  • \$\begingroup\$ What is that Z? \$\endgroup\$ Commented Sep 30, 2016 at 16:03
  • \$\begingroup\$ @EriktheGolfer You know, Z in ASCII is 90 bytes (\x5a) \$\endgroup\$ Commented Sep 30, 2016 at 16:42
0
\$\begingroup\$

Python, 56

for k in range(26):print(chr(k+65)+chr((k+1)%26+65))*13
Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
1
  • \$\begingroup\$ Ah, I had a look at your answer, @Karl Napf. You used a sneaky method of golfing two bits away from my solution. Thank you for teaching me something new :] \$\endgroup\$ Commented Nov 11, 2016 at 13:42
0
\$\begingroup\$

PHP, 52 bytes

for($a=A;$a!=AA;)echo str_pad("\n",27,$a++.$a[0],0);

Can JavaScript beat this? Run with -r.

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
0
\$\begingroup\$

Windows batch, 155 bytes

@set s=ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZA @set/ac=-1 :L @set/ac+=1 @call set t=%%s:~%c%,2%% @for /l %%i in (1,1,13) do @cd|set/p=%t% @echo( @if %t% neq ZA @goto l
Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
0
\$\begingroup\$

Javascript, 98 Bytes

for(var j=371,s="";j<1333;j+=37){for(i=0;i<13;i++)s+=j.toString(36).replace("100","za");s+="<br>"}

Try it here

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
1
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ Is that a typo? This doesn't look like 12 bytes to me. (I think it's 98 bytes.) \$\endgroup\$ Commented Feb 17, 2017 at 4:02
0
\$\begingroup\$

Recursiva, 19 bytes

{B26'P*13Z~}+(C65;}

Try it online!

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
0
\$\begingroup\$

Pyth, 12 bytes

I haven't been there

VG*13+N@G=hZ

Explanation:

VG In the lowercase alphabet... *13 13 times... +N@G=hZ The current item concatenated with alphabet[++Z]

Try it online!

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
0
\$\begingroup\$

K (oK), 23 bytes

Solution:

`c$65+26#'a,'1_27#a:!26

Try it online!

Explanation:

`c$65+26#'a,'1_27#a:!26 / solution !26 / range 0..25 a: / save as 'a' 27# / 27 take, wraps to make ABC...XYZA 1_ / 1 drop, take off leading A a,' / concatenate each element with each of a (AB,BC,etc) 26#' / 26 take each, wraps to get ABABAB... BCBCBC... etc 65+ / add 65, vectorised (65=A in ASCII) `c$ / cast to characters

Bonus:

Here are a couple of other ways to get the result:

24 chars: Try it online!

`c$65++26#(!26;1_27#!26)

27 chars: Try it online!

26#'+0 1_'26 27#\:`c$65+!26
Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
0
\$\begingroup\$

q/kdb+, 19 bytes

Solution:

26#'.Q.A,'1_27#.Q.A

Explanation:

Shorter and different to my oK solutions as we have a shortcut to the uppercase alphabet by means of .Q.A. As always, interpreted right-to-left

26#'.Q.A,'1_27#.Q.A / solution .Q.A / shortcut to uppercase alphabet, ABC..XYZ 27# / 27 take, wraps to get ABC...XYZA 1_ / 1 drop, drop first element to give BCD...XYZA .Q.A,' / concatenate each left/right lists, so AB, BC, CD etc 26#' / 26 take each, gives ABABA.. BCBCB... etc
Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
0
\$\begingroup\$

Mathematica, 52 bytes

Column[""<>#~Table~13&/@Partition[Alphabet[],2,1,1]]

-1 byte from Martin Ender

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
1
  • \$\begingroup\$ Infix notation for Table saves a byte. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Nov 30, 2017 at 14:41
1 2
3
4

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.