Processing 1.0 - Processing Discourse - creating a random word as argument for an object

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Index › Programming Questions & Help › Syntax Questions › creating a random word as argument for an object

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creating a random word as argument for an object (Read 889 times)

sebastiano Junior Member Offline Posts: 75	creating a random word as argument for an object Jul 10^th, 2009, 1:45pm Hello i need to create a random word as argument for an object creation. The word can be any random word created by the conbination of these letters: a b c d e. A word can be for example: "bb", "ace" ,"a" , "dabc" , "bbab" ,"eeabc", etc. Which is the best way of doing these in processing? thanks

Cedric

Re: creating a random word as argument for an object
Reply #1 - Jul 10^th, 2009, 3:20pm

Who knows if it is the best way. but it is definetly one way :

String[] myLetters = { "a", "b","c","d","e" };
String word;
int wordLength = 5;

void Setup(){
size(200,200);
}
void draw(){
}

void mousePressed(){
word = "";
for(int i = 0 ; i<1+int(random(wordLength)); i++){
word=word+myLetters[int(random(wordLength))];
}
println(word);
}

twitter.com/CedricKiefer

PhiLho

Re: creating a random word as argument for an object
Reply #2 - Jul 10^th, 2009, 3:20pm

Put the letters in an array (the characters can be generated, but this way is more generic if you pick up other letters, for example).
Draw a random number: the length of the word.
Iterate the number of times, draw a random number between 0 and the length of the array (excluded): it will be the next letter to add to the word.

Cedric YaBB Moderator Offline Posts: 1838	Re: creating a random word as argument for an object Reply #3 - Jul 10^th, 2009, 3:23pm
	twitter.com/CedricKiefer

subpixel

Re: creating a random word as argument for an object
Reply #4 - Jul 10^th, 2009, 8:51pm

Follow PhiLho's suggestion. You may find problems with mixing types (what is in the array Characters or one-letter strings), but the general method is sound.

There are problems with Cedric's suggestion (aside from possibly "doing someone's homework"). Problem areas identified below, leaving it up to the reader to consider the problems and/or improvements that could be made.

Cedric wrote on Jul 10^th, 2009, 3:20pm:

String[] myLetters = { "a", "b","c","d","e" };
String word;
int wordLength = 5;

void Setup(){
size(200,200);
}
void draw(){
}

void mousePressed(){
word = "";
for(int i = 0 ; i<1+int(random(wordLength)); i++){
word=word+myLetters[int(random(wordLength))];
}
println(word);
}

There are other issues, such as whether the word-generation functionality should be factored out into a separate method, but the points highlighted are problems with the method in general.

-spxl

Processing: subpixels.com, OpenProcessing.org | VJ portfolio: SPXL.TV

Cedric YaBB Moderator Offline Posts: 1838	Re: creating a random word as argument for an object Reply #5 - Jul 10^th, 2009, 11:44pm Like i mentioned, its probably not the best way. So maybe i will learn something too... Only thing i can see is, that i should have called it rather "maxWordLength" instead of "wordLength"... but give us some hints please.
	twitter.com/CedricKiefer

PhiLho

Re: creating a random word as argument for an object
Reply #6 - Jul 11^th, 2009, 12:30am

subpixel is right: you use wordLength as max index in the array, where it sould be myLetters.length. Your code works because wordLength is smaller, but would crash randomly otherwise.
Moreover, unlike some other languages, Java re-evaluates the test part on each loop, so you have a moving target there. It will end thanks to test < (might never stop if is was !=) but it is not predictable. It is better to get the bound before starting the loop.
Demonstration:
Code:

void setup()
{
  for (int i = 0; i < Foo(); i++) {}
}
int Foo()
{
  int x = int(random(100));
  println(x);
  return x;
}

Improvement:
for(int i = 0, b = 1+int(random(maxWordLength)); i < b; i++)

Cedric YaBB Moderator Offline Posts: 1838	Re: creating a random word as argument for an object Reply #7 - Jul 11^th, 2009, 12:47am Oh now i got it. Sure, i totally understand. Obvious mistake I made. Thanks for pointing it out.
	twitter.com/CedricKiefer

PhiLho YaBB Moderator Offline Posts: 4190 Near Paris (France)	Re: creating a random word as argument for an object Reply #8 - Jul 11^th, 2009, 1:26am Yes, that's the problem with quickly thrown demo code, you probably wouldn't make such mistakes on your real programs. Describing algorithms is less prone to implementation errors... What is nice here is that pointing out the mistakes might also help the learning experience of beginners.

Cedric YaBB Moderator Offline Posts: 1838	Re: creating a random word as argument for an object Reply #9 - Jul 11^th, 2009, 2:09am probably not. These are the kind of mistakes that are easily to spot as soon as they cause problems but as long as it works it was not obvious to me.
	twitter.com/CedricKiefer

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