Code Golf: Collatz Conjecture

code-golf, collatz, language-agnostic, rosetta-stone

Solution

x86 assembly, 1337 characters

;
; To assemble and link this program, just run:
;
; >> $ nasm -f elf collatz.asm && gcc -o collatz collatz.o
;
; You can then enjoy its output by passing a number to it on the command line:
;
; >> $ ./collatz 123
; >> 123 --> 370 --> 185 --> 556 --> 278 --> 139 --> 418 --> 209 --> 628 --> 314
; >> --> 157 --> 472 --> 236 --> 118 --> 59 --> 178 --> 89 --> 268 --> 134 --> 67
; >> --> 202 --> 101 --> 304 --> 152 --> 76 --> 38 --> 19 --> 58 --> 29 --> 88
; >> --> 44 --> 22 --> 11 --> 34 --> 17 --> 52 --> 26 --> 13 --> 40 --> 20 --> 10
; >> --> 5 --> 16 --> 8 --> 4 --> 2 --> 1
; 
; There's even some error checking involved:
; >> $ ./collatz
; >> Usage: ./collatz NUMBER
;
section .text
global main
extern printf
extern atoi

main:

  cmp dword [esp+0x04], 2
  jne .usage

  mov ebx, [esp+0x08]
  push dword [ebx+0x04]
  call atoi
  add esp, 4

  cmp eax, 0
  je .usage

  mov ebx, eax
  push eax
  push msg

.loop:
  mov [esp+0x04], ebx
  call printf

  test ebx, 0x01
  jz .even

.odd:
  lea ebx, [1+ebx*2+ebx]
  jmp .loop

.even:

  shr ebx, 1
  cmp ebx, 1
  jne .loop

  push ebx
  push end
  call printf

  add esp, 16
  xor eax, eax
  ret

.usage:
  mov ebx, [esp+0x08]
  push dword [ebx+0x00]
  push usage
  call printf
  add esp, 8
  mov eax, 1
  ret

msg db "%d --> ", 0
end db "%d", 10, 0
usage db "Usage: %s NUMBER", 10, 0

Problem

Inspired by http://xkcd.com/710/ here is a code golf for it. The Challenge Given a positive integer greater than 0, print out the hailstone sequence for that number. The Hailstone Sequence See Wikipedia for more detail.. - If the number is even, divide it by two. - If the number is odd, triple it and add one. Repeat this with the number produced until it reaches 1. (if it continues after 1, it will go in an infinite loop of `1 -> 4 -> 2 -> 1...`) Sometimes code is the best way to explain, so here is some from Wikipedia ``` function collatz(n) show n if n > 1 if n is odd call collatz(3n + 1) else call collatz(n / 2) ``` This code works, but I am adding on an extra challenge. The program must not be vulnerable to stack overflows. So it must either use iteration or tail recursion. Also, bonus points for if it can calculate big numbers and the language does not already have it implemented. (or if you reimplement big number support using fixed-length integers) Test case ``` Number: 21 Results: 21 -> 64 -> 32 -> 16 -> 8 -> 4 -> 2 -> 1 Number: 3 Results: 3 -> 10 -> 5 -> 16 -> 8 -> 4 -> 2 -> 1 ``` Also, the code golf must include full user input and output.

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