Programming challenges - Project Euler

[Humodour]

For the programmers and mathematicians out there, it's worth taking a crack at Project Euler to polish your skills and try some new things.

 

http://projecteuler.net/problems

 

I'm personally using it to master multiple languages - I'm going through all the problems in each language I'm interested in learning (Haskell, Java, Python, C++ at the moment).

 

Trying the problems in Haskell has obviously been the most eye-opening since every programme is a mathematical proof and there are no side effects.

 

You guys know of any other cool things like this?

[Morgoth]

Try a HDL like Verilog.

[zero_or_more]

Or Lisp. For some that's the very definition of cool.

 

(Mathematical problems will get you only so far in learning a language though. /captain obvious)

[Gorth]

Or Lisp. For some that's the very definition of cool.

Thanks for the reminder >_

 

Remembering many a late night programming LISP for EMacs. List Processing my butt, it stands for Lots of Idiotic Single Parentheses.

 

For a nice challenge (and if you love old HP calculators), try Forth. First commercial programming language I purchased for my C64 way back (came in a nice cartridge).

[Malcador]

Nothing like spending more time checking parentheses in an exam than actually solving a problem. I enjoyed Prolog, recursion in that is sort of weird but cool at the same time

[Humodour]

Try a HDL like Verilog.

 

I think we touch on it in class. There are a few chapters on it in my textbook and I'll be doing chip design in later year subjects so I may as well give it a go now.

 

Or Lisp. For some that's the very definition of cool.

Thanks for the reminder

 

Remembering many a late night programming LISP for EMacs. List Processing my butt, it stands for Lots of Idiotic Single Parentheses.

 

For a nice challenge (and if you love old HP calculators), try Forth. First commercial programming language I purchased for my C64 way back (came in a nice cartridge).

 

Haskell is so much better in that sense. All the power of LISP and more, without the parentheses.

 

Here is an example of quick sort in Haskell:

 

quicksort :: Ord a => [a] -> [a]
quicksort [] = []
quicksort (x:xs) = (quicksort lesser) ++ [x] ++ (quicksort greater)
 where
   lesser = filter (< x) xs
   greater = filter (>= x) xs

 

Or with list comprehensions instead:

quicksort :: Ord a => [a] -> [a]
quicksort [] = []
quicksort (x:xs) = quicksort [y | y <- xs, y <= x] ++ [x] ++ quicksort [y | y <- xs, y > x]

 

I enjoyed Prolog, recursion in that is sort of weird but cool at the same time

 

Will have to try it one day when I'm not overloaded. I've heard good things about it.

[zero_or_more]

I always had the impression that when you're combining too many strings for your eval() that's when you want to use lisp. Don't know if it's true, but I never understood the need for the weird syntax anyway.

 

Nowadays I just stick with python, sometimes it's hard to believe that it's both good and popular (meaning more libraries).