Code Golf: Beehive

code-golf, language-agnostic, rosetta-stone

Solution

Perl, 99 characters

@P=map{$/.substr$".'__/  \\'x99,$_,$W||=1+3*pop}0,(3,6)x pop;
chop$P[0-$W%2];print"    __"x($W/6),@P

Last edit: Saved one character replacing `-($W%2)` with `0-$W%2` (thanks A. Rex)

Explanation:

For width W and height H, the output is 2+2 * H lines long and 3 * W+1 characters wide, with a lot of repetition in the middle of the output.

For convenience, we let `$W` be 3 * W + 1, the width of the output in characters.

The top line consists of the pattern `" __"`, repeated W/2 == `$W/6` times.

The even numbered lines consist of the repeating pattern `"\__/ "`, truncated to `$W` characters. The second line of output is a special case, where the first character of the second line should be a space instead of a `\`.

The odd numbered lines consist of the repeating pattern `"/ \__"`, truncated to `$W` characters.

We construct a string: `" " . "__/ \" x 99`. Note that the beginning of this string is the desired output for the second line. This line starting at position 3 is the desired output for the odd lines, and starting at position 6 for the even numbered lines.

The LIST argument to the `map` call begins with 0 and is followed by H repetitions of (3,6). The `map` call creates a list of the substrings that begin at the appropriate positions and are `$W` = 3 * W + 1 characters long.

There is one more adjustment to make before printing the results. If W is odd, then there is an extra character on the second line (`$P[0]`) that needs to be `chop`ped off. If W is even, then there is an extra character on the bottom line (`$P[-1]`) to chop.

Problem

Original source