TalkPHP - View Single Post - The most inventive way to switch 2 values

Wildhoney · 01-04-2008, 04:13 PM

OK! A little game for you all

The only objective is to switch the values of $a and $b. The values of $a and $b are 1 and 2, respectively:

php Code:

$a = 1;
$b = 2;

So for example this is an easy way to do it:

php Code:

$c = $a;
$a = $b;
$b = $c;

However! We're not looking for the simplest way to do it, or the fastest, but rather, the most inventive way to do it! There are a couple of rules and those are:

eval and create_function functions are disallowed.
8 lines maximum but lines with only { and } on do not count towards that total. This does not include the 2 initial assignments of $a and $b, or any echoes of the values $a or $b.
You must have only one semi-colon per line (;) unless of course it's used elsewhere apart from indicating the end of a line. Thus you're not allowed to fuse 2 lines together into 1. The exception is a for loop to where you're allowed 2.

So basically $a must equal 2 and $b must equal 1 at the end of your code.

I'll start us off:

php Code:

list($a, $b) = str_split(strrev($a . $b), 1);

var_dump($a);
var_dump($b);

Put that mind to work! Oh, and just for Karl, you can't just set $a to 2 and $b to 1

You have to reference the first 2 variables set!

01-04-2008, 04:13 PM	#1 (permalink)
Wildhoney La Vida es Sueño Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Oldham Posts: 2,280 Thanks: 90	The most inventive way to switch 2 values OK! A little game for you all The only objective is to switch the values of `$a` and `$b`. The values of `$a` and `$b` are 1 and 2, respectively: php Code: $a = 1; $b = 2; So for example this is an easy way to do it: php Code: $c = $a; $a = $b; $b = $c; However! We're not looking for the simplest way to do it, or the fastest, but rather, the most inventive way to do it! There are a couple of rules and those are: `eval` and `create_function` functions are disallowed. 8 lines maximum but lines with only `{` and `}` on do not count towards that total. This does not include the 2 initial assignments of `$a` and `$b`, or any echoes of the values `$a` or `$b`. You must have only one semi-colon per line (`;`) unless of course it's used elsewhere apart from indicating the end of a line. Thus you're not allowed to fuse 2 lines together into 1. The exception is a `for` loop to where you're allowed 2. So basically `$a` must equal 2 and `$b` must equal 1 at the end of your code. I'll start us off: php Code: list($a, $b) = str_split(strrev($a . $b), 1); var_dump($a); var_dump($b); Put that mind to work! Oh, and just for Karl, you can't just set `$a` to 2 and `$b` to 1 You have to reference the first 2 variables set! __________________ The man who comes back through the Door in the Wall will never be quite the same as the man who went out.