Generate a hollow equilateral triangle using alphabets in Python
In this shot, we will learn how to generate a hollow equilateral triangle, using alphabets in Python.
We can print a plethora of patterns using Python. The only prerequisite for this is having a good understanding of how loops work in Python. Here, we will use simple for loops and alphabets to generate a hollow equilateral triangle.
Description
A triangle is said to be equilateral if it has all 3 sides of the same length. To create an equilateral triangle with alphabets using Python programming, we will use 2 for loops:
- An outer Loop: To handle the number of rows.
- An inner loop: To handle the number of columns.
Code
Let’s look at the code for this:
# Number of Rowsn = 8if n > 26 or n < 3:print("""The value of n should be less than 26 as there are 26 alphabets and\ngreater than 3 as that's the smallest hollow triangle that can be made.""")else:# Outer loop for rowsfor i in range(1,n+1):# Inner loop for columnsfor j in range(1,2*n):ch = chr(64+i)# Conditions for creating the patternif i==n or i+j==n+1 or j-i==n-1:print(ch, end=" ")else:print(end=" ")j += 1print()
Explanation
In the code given above:
-
In line 2, we take the input for the number of rows.
-
From lines 4–5, we check whether the value of
nis less than 26 or greater than 3. If it exceeds 26, then we will not proceed further and print a message. This is done to ensure that only 26 alphabets are used to generate the pattern. Similarly, if the value is less than 3, then the triangle will not be hollow. -
In line 9, we create a
forloop to handle the number of rows. -
In line 12, we create a nested
forloop to handle the number of columns. -
In line 14, we define
chwhich is used to create alphabets from numbers by using the iterative value ofiand the concept of ASCII conversion. The starting value 64 + (i=1), is used as the ASCII value ofA(starting of the triangle), which is 65. -
From lines 17–22, we define the conditions for creating the required shape:
- i==n ⇒ is used to print the base of the triangle.
- i+j==n+1 ⇒ is used to print the left side of the triangle.
- j-i==n-1 ⇒ is used to print the right side of the triangle.
-
In line 22, we use the
print()function to move on to the next line.