Exercises to help you learn to program

This page gives a number of simple programming exercises and solutions which will help you learn to write for loops, while statements and if-else statements. There are solutions to some of the exercises, but use them only after you have made a good attempt to solve the exercises yourself. The point is to introduce a minimum amount of syntax for these languages and get you solving small programming problems. This page is not attempting to teach much about these languages, and deliberately avoids using specialized commands in favor of simpler but universal programming ideas. If you find this page useful and would like to contribute additional exercises or solutions, perhaps in other languages, please contact

To learn about Matlab and Octave, see the tutorial page I made. To learn about R, see the R directions. For JavaScript, see the JavaScript explanation. Octave, JavaScript, and R are free and easy to get started with.

Writing loops to calculate sums of numbers

Write some lines of code that will calculate the sum 1+2+3+...+300. The idea is to create a variable that will store the current value of the sum. Set it to zero, then use a for loop that will run through the numbers 1, 2, 3, ... and add each of these to the current sum. After the for loop, output the value of the sum. Solution in Matlab/Octave | JavaScript | R
Modify your program to sum the first N numbers, and set N equal to 1000, 10000, and 100000 to see what sum you get. Solution in Matlab/Octave.
Write some lines of code that will figure out how many terms in the sum 1+2+3+... it requires for the sum to exceed one million. The idea is to create a variable that will store the current value of the sum and another variable that keeps track of what number you are adding to the sum. Use a while loop to add the current number to the sum, then increase the current number by 1. The while loop should stop once the sum exceeds one million, then you tell the current value of the sum. Solution in Matlab/Octave | R
Write a program to calculate 1^2+2^2+3^2+...+300^2.
Write a program to calculate 10! ("10 factorial"), which is defined to be 10*9*8*7*6*5*4*3*2*1.
Write a program to calculate N! ("N factorial"), where N is a non-negative integer. Note that 0! is defined to be 1.
Write a program to calculate 1^1 + 2^2 + 3^3 + ... + 10^10. This is not hard if your programming language allows exponentiation using ^, but if it doesn't, it will be harder
Write a program to calculate 1 + 1/1! + 1/2! + 1/3! + ... + 1/10!. Display the sum after each term is added. Recognize the result?

Programs that use if-else statements

Write a program to calculate the sum 1+2+3+...+300. Display the total after every 20 terms by using an if statement to check if the current number of terms is a multiple of 20. The basic idea is this: if i/20 == round(i/20), print the sum.

Writing programs to make matrices

Write some lines of code that use nested for loops to produce a 5 by 5 (square) matrix A with 0's down the main diagonal, 1's in the entries just above and below the main diagonal, 2's above and below that, etc. The matrix should look like this:
```
     0     1     2     3     4
     1     0     1     2     3
     2     1     0     1     2
     3     2     1     0     1
     4     3     2     1     0
```
```
Solution in JavaScript.
```

Modify the lines of code to produce an N by N (square) matrix with the same description. Then, by first typing N=8; at the Matlab/Octave command prompt, you should get a matrix that looks like this:

     0     1     2     3     4     5     6     7
     1     0     1     2     3     4     5     6
     2     1     0     1     2     3     4     5
     3     2     1     0     1     2     3     4
     4     3     2     1     0     1     2     3
     5     4     3     2     1     0     1     2
     6     5     4     3     2     1     0     1
     7     6     5     4     3     2     1     0

Solution in Matlab/Octave | JavaScript, but of course don't look until you've really tried.

In Matlab/Octave, save the lines of code in a text file called matrix_maker.m. Then, you can run these lines of code by typing matrix_maker at the Matlab/Octave prompt. This program is called a script.
Convert the program matrix_maker.m into a function by adding this text to the top:
```
	function [A] = matrix_maker(N)
	
```
Then, you can produce a matrix of the size you want simply by typing matrix_maker(7) (if you want a 7 by 7 matrix) at the Matlab/Octave command prompt. In case you're having trouble, here is the program in Matlab/Octave. You can store the matrix you get by typing Z = matrix_maker(7). Note that, internally, matrix_maker calls the matrix A, but you are free to give it another name once matrix_maker returns it to you.
Change the program to allow two inputs, matrix_maker_rect(5,7).
Change matrix_maker_rect so that if only one input is given, it makes a square matrix.
Change matrix_maker_rect to return the sum S of all entries in the matrix.

Writing programs to investigate 3X+1

The game "3X+1" goes like this. If N is odd, multiply it by 3 and add 1. If N is even, divide it by 2. Repeat until N equals 1, if ever. Every value of N that anyone has ever checked eventually leads to 1, but it is an open mathematical problem (known as the Collatz conjecture) whether EVERY value of N eventually leads to 1. It is also called 3n+1, and you can read about it on Wikipedia. Before you start working on these programs, take a sheet of paper and write out what happens when you start with N=5, N=6, N=7, N=9, to get a feel for it. For example, starting with N=6, the next number is 3, then 10, then 5, then 16, 8, 4, 2, 1 and we are done.

Write a program ThreeX that, given an input value of N, will play the game "3X+1" and print to the screen the values visited along the way. Use a while loop.
Have the program return the maximum value hit and the number of steps taken and the maximum value hit. [m,c] = ThreeX(N); Solution in JavaScript.
Write another program that runs ThreeX for N values going from 2 to 400. List to the screen the numbers of steps taken and the maximum values.
Plot the number of steps taken when starting at N as a function of N using the plot command.
Plot the maximum value attained when starting at N as a function of N.
Plot the maximum value versus the number of steps.
Modify ThreeX so that it returns a vector vals which lists the values visited, from N all the way to 1. For instance , when N = 5,
Keep track of how many times each number 1, 2, 3, ... is visited as N goes from 2 to 400.

Statistical simulation

Flip a coin twenty times, keeping track of the individual outcomes (1 = heads, 0 = tails). (Use the random number simulator in whatever language you are using.)

Record several things in this sequence:
1. the number of heads observed
2. the number of trials where the running count of heads exceeds the running count of tails
3. the number of switches in the sequence (a switch is where one changes from heads to tails or from tails to heads)

Repeat your simulation 1000 times and construct a frequency table of each outcome in part 1, 2, and 3.

Maximum, minimum, and sorting

Generate a list of 100 random numbers and store them in a one-dimensional array.
Use a for loop to go through the numbers and keep track of the minimum and maximum values.
Sort the list of numbers, this way. Start at A[1]. Compare it to A[2]. If A[1] > A[2], switch the values of the two. Now compare A[2] and A[3], and switch them if necessary. Continue through the list this way. Then start at the beginning of the list again, and again, until you run through the whole list without making a single switch. The values will be in order. Record how many passes it takes through the list to get them all sorted.

Base 7 counting

In base 7, the digits 0 to 6 are used. A number like 125 means 1*7^2 + 2*7 + 5, just like base 10 but with 10's replaced by 7's. When you count in base 7, you start 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, etc. Write a program that will print the first N numbers in base 7. Note that you cannot simply use nested for loops to make each digit go from 0 to 6, since you don't know how many digits you will need ahead of time. Suggestion: store the digits in an array. It's good enough to have an array with enough space for 10 digits.