Python Program to Print Star Pattern in X Shape

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Introduction

An X-shaped star pattern is a symmetrical arrangement of stars (*) in the shape of the letter 'X'. The stars are printed diagonally from the top-left to the bottom-right and from the top-right to the bottom-left. This exercise is great for practicing nested loops and conditional logic in Python.

Problem Statement

Create a Python program that:

• Accepts the size of the pattern (an odd number).
• Prints a star (*) pattern in the shape of an 'X'.

Example:

• Input: size = 5
• Output:

  * * * * * * * * * 

Solution Steps

1. Input the Size: The user specifies the size of the X pattern, which should be an odd number to ensure symmetry.
2. Use Nested Loops: The outer loop handles the rows, and the inner loop handles printing the stars and spaces.
3. Conditionally Print Stars: Print stars on the diagonals (positions where the row and column indices match or add up to size - 1).

Python Program

# Step 1: Input the size of the pattern (must be odd) size = int(input("Enter the size of the X pattern (odd number): ")) # Step 2: Outer loop for rows for i in range(size): # Step 3: Inner loop for columns for j in range(size): # Step 4: Print stars at diagonal positions if i == j or i + j == size - 1: print("*", end="") else: print(" ", end="") # Move to the next line after printing each row print() 

Explanation

Step 1: Input the Size of the Pattern

• The program starts by asking the user for the size of the X pattern. The size must be an odd number to create symmetry.

Step 2: Outer Loop for Rows

• The outer loop controls how many rows are printed. It runs from 0 to size - 1.

Step 3: Inner Loop for Columns

• The inner loop controls how many columns are printed in each row.

Step 4: Conditional Printing of Stars and Spaces

• Stars (*) are printed at the diagonal positions:
  • On the main diagonal (i == j),
  • On the anti-diagonal (i + j == size - 1).
• Spaces are printed elsewhere to form the X shape.

Output Example

For size = 5, the output will be:

* * * * * * * * * 

For size = 7, the output will be:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Conclusion

This Python program prints a star pattern in the shape of an X using nested loops and conditional logic. Stars are printed on the diagonals, while spaces are printed elsewhere to create the X shape. This exercise helps in practicing loop control, conditional statements, and formatting output in Python.