All Problems

Output a string to the console

Write the string "Hello World!" to STDOUT
erlang
io:format("Hello, World!~n").

Retrieve a string containing ampersands from the variables in a url

My PHP script first does a query to obtain customer info for a form. The form has first name and last name fields among others. The customer has put entries such as "Ron & Jean" in the first name field in the database. Then the edit form script is called with variables such as

"http://myserver.com/custinfo/edit.php?mode=view&fname=Ron & Jean&lname=Smith".

The script variable for first name $_REQUEST['firstname'] never gets beyond the "Ron" value because of the ampersand in the data.

I have tried various functions like urldecode but all to no avail. I even tried encoding the url before the view screen is painted so that the url looks like "http://myserver/custinfo/edit.php?mode=view&fname="Ronxxnbsp;xxamp;xxnbsp;Jean"&lname=SMITH". (sorry I had to add the xx to replace the ampersand or it didn't display meaningful url contents the browser sees.)

Of course this fails for the same reasons. What is a better approach?

Define a string containing special characters

Define the literal string "\#{'}${"}/"
erlang
Special = "\\#{'}\${\"}/",

Define a multiline string

Define the string:
"This
Is
A
Multiline
String"
erlang
Text = "This\nIs\nA\nMultiline\nString",

Define a string containing variables and expressions

Given variables a=3 and b=4 output "3+4=7"
erlang
A = 3, B = 4,
io:format("~B+~B=~B~n", [A, B, (A+B)]).

Reverse the characters in a string

Given the string "reverse me", produce the string "em esrever"
erlang
Reversed = lists:reverse("reverse me"),
Reversed = revchars("reverse me"),

Reverse the words in a string

Given the string "This is a end, my only friend!", produce the string "friend! only my end, the is This"
erlang
Reversed = string:join(lists:reverse(string:tokens("This is the end, my only friend!", " ")), " "),

Text wrapping

Wrap the string "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. " repeated ten times to a max width of 78 chars, starting each line with "> ", yielding this result:

> The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps
> over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The
> quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps
> over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The
> quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps
> over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The
> quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
erlang
TextWrap = textwrap(string:copies(Input, 10), 73 - length(Prefix)),
lists:foreach(fun (Line) -> io:format("~s~n", [string:concat(Prefix, Line)]) end, string:tokens(TextWrap, "\n")).

Remove leading and trailing whitespace from a string

Given the string "  hello    " return the string "hello".
erlang
Trimmed = string:strip(S),

Simple substitution cipher

Take a string and return the ROT13 and ROT47 (Check Wikipedia) version of the string.
For example:
String is: Hello World #123
ROT13 returns: Uryyb Jbeyq #123
ROT47 returns: w6==@ (@C=5 R`ab
erlang
rot13(Str) ->
lists:map(fun(A) ->
if
A >= $A, A =< $Z -> ((A - $A + 13) rem 26) + $A;
A >= $a, A =< $z -> ((A - $a + 13) rem 26) + $a;
true -> A
end
end, Str).

rot47(Str) ->
lists:map(fun(A) ->
if
A >= $!, A =< $~ ->
((A - $! + 47) rem 94) + $!;
true -> A
end
end, Str).

Make a string uppercase

Transform "Space Monkey" into "SPACE MONKEY"
erlang
io:format("~s~n", [string:to_upper("Space Monkey")]).

Make a string lowercase

Transform "Caps ARE overRated" into "caps are overrated"
erlang
io:format("~s~n", [string:to_lower("Caps ARE overRated")]).

Capitalise the first letter of each word

Transform "man OF stEEL" into "Man Of Steel"
erlang
Caps = string:join(lists:map(fun(S) -> to_caps(S) end, string:tokens("man OF stEEL", " ")), " "),

Find the distance between two points

erlang
Distance = distance({point, 34, 78}, {point, 67, -45}),
io:format("~.2f~n", [Distance]).
Distance = distance(point:new(34, 78), point:new(67, -45)),
io:format("~.2f~n", [Distance]).

Zero pad a number

Given the number 42, pad it to 8 characters like 00000042
erlang
Formatted = io_lib:format("~8..0B", [42]),
io:format("~8..0B~n", [42]).

Right Space pad a number

Given the number 1024 right pad it to 6 characters "1024  "
erlang
Formatted = io_lib:format("~-6B", [1024]),
io:format("~-6B~n", [1024]).

Format a decimal number

Format the number 7/8 as a decimal with 2 places: 0.88
erlang
Formatted = io_lib:format("~.2f", [7/8]),
io:format("~.2f~n", [7/8]).

Left Space pad a number

Given the number 73 left pad it to 10 characters "        73"
erlang
Formatted = io_lib:format("~10B", [73]),
io:format("~10B~n", [73]).

Generate a random integer in a given range

Produce a random integer between 100 and 200 inclusive
erlang
RandomInt = gen_rand_integer(100, 200),

Generate a repeatable random number sequence

Initialise a random number generator with a seed and generate five decimal values. Reset the seed and produce the same values.
erlang
setRNG(RNGState),
io:format("~w~n", [lists:map(fun (_) -> gen_rand_integer(100, 200) end, lists:seq(1, 5))]),

setRNG(RNGState),
io:format("~w~n", [lists:map(fun (_) -> gen_rand_integer(100, 200) end, lists:seq(1, 5))]).

Check if a string matches a regular expression

Display "ok" if "Hello" matches /[A-Z][a-z]+/
erlang
String = "Hello", Regexp = "[A-Z][a-z]+",
is_match(String, Regexp) andalso (begin io:format("ok~n"), true end).
case re:run("Hello", "[A-Z][a-z]+") of {match, _} -> ok end.

Check if a string matches with groups

Display "two" if "one two three" matches /one (.*) three/
erlang
case re:run("one two three", "one (.*) three", [{capture, [1], list}]) of {match, Res} -> hd(Res) end.

Check if a string contains a match to a regular expression

Display "ok" if "abc 123 @#$" matches /\d+/
erlang
% Erlang uses 'egrep'-compatible regular expressions, so shortcuts like '\d' not supported
String = "abc 123 @#$", Regexp = "[0-9]+",
is_match(String, Regexp) andalso (begin io:format("ok~n"), true end).
case re:run("abc 123 @#$", "\\d+") of {match, _} -> ok end.

Loop through a string matching a regex and performing an action for each match

Create a list [fish1,cow3,boat4] when matching "(fish):1 sausage (cow):3 tree (boat):4" with regex /\((\w+)\):(\d+)/
erlang
solve(S) ->
R = "\\((\\w+?)\\):(\\d+)",
{match, M} = re:run(S,R, [global, {capture, all_but_first, list}]),
[ A++N || [A, N] <- M].


Replace the first regex match in a string with a static string

Transform "Red Green Blue" into "R*d Green Blue" by replacing /e/ with "*"
erlang
{ok, Replaced, _} = regexp:sub("Red Green Blue", "e", "*"),
re:replace("Red Green Blue", "e", "*", [{return, list}]).

Replace all regex matches in a string with a static string

Transform "She sells sea shells" into "She X X shells" by replacing /se\w+/ with "X"
erlang
% Erlang uses 'egrep'-compatible regular expressions, so shortcuts like '\w' not supported
{ok, Replaced, _} = regexp:gsub("She sells sea shells", "se[A-Za-z0-9_]+", "X"),
re:replace("She sells sea shells", "se\\w+", "X", [global, {return, list}]).

Replace all regex matches in a string with a dynamic string

Transform "The {Quick} Brown {Fox}" into "The kciuQ Brown xoF" by reversing words in braces using the regex /\{(\w+)\}/.
erlang
% Erlang regular expressions lack both group capture and backreferences, thus this problem is not directly
% solvable. Presented solution is close, but not on-spec

String = "The {Quick} Brown {Fox}",
{match, FieldList} = regexp:matches(String, "\{([A-Za-z0-9_]+)\}"),

NewString = lists:foldl(fun ({Start, Length}, S) -> replstr(S, lists:reverse(string:substr(S, Start, Length)), Start) end, String, FieldList),

Define an empty list

Assign the variable "list" to a list with no elements
erlang
List = [],

Define a static list

Define the list [One, Two, Three, Four, Five]
erlang
List = [one, two, three, four, five],
List = ['One', 'Two', 'Three', 'Four', 'Five'],

Join the elements of a list, separated by commas

Given the list [Apple, Banana, Carrot] produce "Apple, Banana, Carrot"
erlang
Result = string:join(Fruit, ", "),
Result = lists:foldl(fun (E, Acc) -> Acc ++ ", " ++ E end, hd(Fruit), tl(Fruit)),

Join the elements of a list, in correct english

Create a function join that takes a List and produces a string containing an english language concatenation of the list. It should work with the following examples:
join([Apple, Banana, Carrot]) = "Apple, Banana, and Carrot"
join([One, Two]) = "One and Two"
join([Lonely]) = "Lonely"
join([]) = ""
erlang
io:format("~s~n", [join(Fruit)]).

% ------

join([]) -> "";
join([W|Ws]) -> join(Ws, W).

join([], S) -> S;
join([W], S) -> join([], S ++ " and " ++ W);
join([W|Ws], S) -> join(Ws, S ++ ", " ++ W).

Produce the combinations from two lists

Given two lists, produce the list of tuples formed by taking the combinations from the individual lists. E.g. given the letters ["a", "b", "c"] and the numbers [4, 5], produce the list: [["a", 4], ["b", 4], ["c", 4], ["a", 5], ["b", 5], ["c", 5]]
erlang
Combinations =
lists:foldl(fun (Number, Acc) -> Acc ++ lists:map(fun (Letter) -> {Letter, Number} end, Letters) end, [], Numbers),
Combinations = lists:keysort(2, sofs:to_external(sofs:product(sofs:set(Letters), sofs:set(Numbers))))
[[A, B] || A <- ["a", "b", "c"], B <- [4, 5]].

Fetch an element of a list by index

Given the list [One, Two, Three, Four, Five], fetch the third element ('Three')
erlang
Result = lists:nth(3, List),
Result = element(3, list_to_tuple(List)),
{Left, _} = lists:split(3, List), Result = lists:last(Left),
Result = nth0(2, List),

Fetch the last element of a list

Given the list [Red, Green, Blue], access the last element ('Blue')
erlang
Result = lists:last(List),
Result = last(List),
Result = hd(lists:reverse(List)),
Result = lists:nth(length(List), List),

Find the common items in two lists

Given two lists, find the common items. E.g. given beans = ['broad', 'mung', 'black', 'red', 'white'] and colors = ['black', 'red', 'blue', 'green'], what are the bean varieties that are also color names?
erlang
Beans = sets:from_list([broad, mung, black, red, white]), Colors = sets:from_list([black, red, blue, green]),

Common = sets:to_list(sets:intersection(Beans, Colors)),

Display the unique items in a list

Display the unique items in a list, e.g. given ages = [18, 16, 17, 18, 16, 19, 14, 17, 19, 18], display the unique elements, i.e. with duplicates removed.
erlang
Ages = sets:to_list(sets:from_list([18, 16, 17, 18, 16, 19, 14, 17, 19, 18])), io:format("~w~n", [Ages]).
lists:usort([18, 16, 17, 18, 16, 19, 14, 17, 19, 18]).

Remove an element from a list by index

Given the list [Apple, Banana, Carrot], remove the first element to produce the list [Banana, Carrot]
erlang
Result = tl(List),
[_|Result] = List,
N = 1, {Left, Right} = lists:split(N - 1, List), Result = Left ++ tl(Right),
Result = drop(1, List),

Remove the last element of a list

erlang
Result = init(List),
Result = take(length(List) - 1, List),
Result = lists:reverse(tl(lists:reverse(List))),

Rotate a list

Given a list ["apple", "orange", "grapes", "bananas"], rotate it by removing the first item and placing it on the end to yield ["orange", "grapes", "bananas", "apple"]
erlang
N = 1, {Left, Right} = lists:split(N, List), Result = Right ++ Left,
N = 1, Result = rotate(N, List),

Gather together corresponding elements from multiple lists

Given several lists, gather together the first element from every list, the second element from every list, and so on for all corresponding index values in the lists. E.g. for these three lists, first = ['Bruce', 'Tommy Lee', 'Bruce'], last = ['Willis', 'Jones', 'Lee'], years = [1955, 1946, 1940] the result should produce 3 actors. The middle actor should be Tommy Lee Jones.
erlang
First = ['Bruce', 'Tommy Lee', 'Bruce'], Last = ['Willis', 'Jones', 'Lee'], Years = [1955, 1946, 1940],

Result = lists:zip3(First, Last, Years),

List Combinations

Given two source lists (or sets), generate a list (or set) of all the pairs derived by combining elements from the individual lists (sets). E.g. given suites = ['H', 'D', 'C', 'S'] and faces = ['2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8', '9', '10', 'J', 'Q', 'K', 'A'], generate the deck of 52 cards, confirm the deck size and check it contains an expected card, say 'Ace of Hearts'.
erlang
Cards = lists:foldl(fun (Suite, Acc) -> Acc ++ lists:flatmap(fun (Face) -> [{Suite, Face}] end, Faces) end, [], Suites),

io:format("Deck has ~B cards~n", [length(Cards)]),
IsMember = lists:member({h, 'A'}, Cards),
io:format("~s~n", [if IsMember -> "Deck contains 'Ace of Hearts'" ; true -> "'Ace of Hearts' not in deck" end]),
Cards = sofs:to_external(sofs:product(sofs:set(Suites), sofs:set(Faces))),

io:format("Deck has ~B cards~n", [length(Cards)]),
IsMember = lists:member({h, 'A'}, Cards),
io:format("~s~n", [if IsMember -> "Deck contains 'Ace of Hearts'" ; true -> "'Ace of Hearts' not in deck" end]),
Deck2 = [{S, V} || S <- [d, c, h, s], V <- [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 'J', 'Q', 'K', 'A']],
52 = length(Deck2),
true = lists:member({h, 'A'}, Deck2).

Perform an operation on every item of a list

Perform an operation on every item of a list, e.g.
for the list ["ox", "cat", "deer", "whale"] calculate
the list of sizes of the strings, e.g. [2, 3, 4, 5]
erlang
lists:map(fun (X) ->length(X) end, List).

Split a list of things into numbers and non-numbers

Given a list that might contain e.g. a string, an integer, a float and a date,
split the list into numbers and non-numbers.
erlang
% Wrapped call to the auxiliary function
number_split(Xs) ->
number_split(Xs, [], []).

% The auxiliary function
number_split([], Num, NonNum) ->
{Num, NonNum};
number_split([X|Xs], Num, NonNum) ->
case is_number(X) of
true ->
number_split(Xs, [X|Num], NonNum);
false ->
number_split(Xs, Num, [X|NonNum])
end.
List = ["hello", 25, 3.14, calendar:local_time()],
{Numbers, NonNumbers} = lists:partition(fun(E) -> is_number(E) end, List)

Define an empty map

erlang
Map = dict:new(),
Map = orddict:new(),
Map = gb_trees:empty(),
Map = ets:new(the_map_name, [set, private, {keypos, 1}]),

Define an unmodifiable empty map

erlang

% Erlang data structures are immutable - updating a 'map' sees a modified copy created
Map = dict:new(),

Define an initial map

Define the map {circle:1, triangle:3, square:4}
erlang
Map = dict:from_list([{circle, 1}, {triangle, 3}, {square, 4}]),
Map0 = dict:new(),

% Erlang variables are 'single-assignment' i.e. they cannot be reassigned
Map1 = dict:store(circle, 1, Map0),
Map2 = dict:store(triangle, 3, Map1),
Map3 = dict:store(square, 4, Map2),
Map0 = gb_trees:empty(),

Map1 = gb_trees:enter(circle, 1, Map0),
Map2 = gb_trees:enter(triangle, 3, Map1),
Map3 = gb_trees:enter(square, 4, Map2),
Map = gb_trees:from_orddict(lists:keysort(1, [{circle, 1}, {triangle, 3}, {square, 4}])),
Map = ets:new(the_map_name, [ordered_set, private, {keypos, 1}]),
ets:insert(Map, [{circle, 1}, {triangle, 3}, {square, 4}]),

Check if a key exists in a map

Given a map pets {joe:cat,mary:turtle,bill:canary} print "ok" if an pet exists for "mary"
erlang
dict:is_key(mary, Pets) andalso begin io:format("ok~n"), true end.
IsMember = ets:member(Pets, mary), if (IsMember) -> io:format("ok~n") ; true -> false end.
case gb_trees:lookup(mary, Pets) of none -> false ; _ -> io:format("ok~n") end.

Retrieve a value from a map

Given a map pets {joe:cat,mary:turtle,bill:canary} print the pet for "joe" ("cat")
erlang
dict:is_key(joe, Pets) andalso begin io:format("~w~n", [dict:fetch(joe, Pets)]), true end.
case dict:find(joe, Pets) of error -> false ; {ok, Pet} -> io:format("~w~n", [Pet]) end.
IsMember = ets:member(Pets, joe), if (IsMember) -> io:format("~w~n", [ets:lookup_element(Pets, joe, 2)]) ; true -> false end.
case ets:match(Pets, {joe, '$1'}) of [] -> false ; [[Pet]] -> io:format("~w~n", [Pet]) end.
case gb_trees:lookup(joe, Pets) of none -> false ; {value, Pet} -> io:format("~w~n", [Pet]) end.

Add an entry to a map

Given an empty pets map, add the mapping from "rob" to "dog"
erlang
Pets1 = dict:store(rob, dog, Pets0).
ets:insert(Pets, {rob, dog}).
Pets1 = gb_trees:enter(rob, dog, Pets0).

Remove an entry from a map

Given a map pets {joe:cat,mary:turtle,bill:canary} remove the mapping for "bill" and print "canary"
erlang
Pet = dict:fetch(bill, Pets0), Pets1 = dict:erase(bill, Pets0), io:format("~w~n", [Pet]),
Pet = ets:lookup_element(Pets, bill, 2), ets:delete(Pets, bill), io:format("~w~n", [Pet]),
{value, Pet} = gb_trees:lookup(bill, Pets0), Pets1 = gb_trees:delete(bill, Pets0), io:format("~w~n", [Pet]),

Create a histogram map from a list

Given the list [a,b,a,c,b,b], produce a map {a:2, b:3, c:1} which contains the count of each unique item in the list
erlang
% Imperative Solution
Histogram = histogram(List),
% Functional (1) Solution
Histogram = histogram(List),

Categorise a list

Given the list [one, two, three, four, five] produce a map {3:[one, two], 4:[four, five], 5:[three]} which sorts elements into map entries based on their length
erlang
% Imperative Solution
CatList = categorise(List),
% Functional (1) Solution
CatList = categorise(List),

Perform an action if a condition is true (IF .. THEN)

Given a variable name, if the value is "Bob", display the string "Hello, Bob!". Perform no action if the name is not equal.
erlang
if (Name == "Bob") -> io:format("Hello, ~s!~n", [Name]) ; true -> false end.
case Name of "Bob" -> io:format("Hello, ~s!~n", [Name]) ; _ -> false end.
Name == "Bob" andalso (begin io:format("Hello, ~s!~n", [Name]), true end).

Perform different actions depending on a boolean condition (IF .. THEN .. ELSE)

Given a variable age, if the value is greater than 42 display "You are old", otherwise display "You are young"
erlang
if Age > 42 -> io:format("You are old~n") ; true -> io:format("You are young~n") end.
Message = if Age > 42 -> "old" ; true -> "young" end, io:format("You are ~s~n", [Message]).
case Age > 42 of true -> io:format("You are old~n") ; false -> io:format("You are young~n") end.
case Age of _ when Age > 42 -> io:format("You are old~n") ; _ -> io:format("You are young~n") end.
Message = case Age of _ when Age > 42 -> "old" ; _ -> "young" end, io:format("You are ~s~n", [Message]).
Age > 42 andalso (begin io:format("You are old~n"), true end) orelse (begin io:format("You are young~n"), true end).

Perform different actions depending on several boolean conditions (IF .. THEN .. ELSIF .. ELSE)

erlang
if
Age > 84 -> io:format("You are really ancient~n");
Age > 30 -> io:format("You are middle-aged~n");
true -> io:format("You are young~n")
end.
case Age of
_ when Age > 84 -> io:format("You are really ancient~n");
_ when Age > 30 -> io:format("You are middle-aged~n");
true -> io:format("You are young~n")
end.

Replacing a conditional with many branches with a switch/case statement

Many languages support more compact forms of branching than just if ... then ... else such as switch or case or match. Use such a form to add an appropriate placing suffix to the numbers 1..40, e.g. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, ..., 11th, 12th, ... 39th, 40th
erlang
Suffix = case Num of
N when N > 10, N < 20 -> "th";
N when N rem 10 =:= 1 -> "st";
N when N rem 10 =:= 2 -> "nd";
N when N rem 10 =:= 3 -> "rd";
_ -> "th"
end,
io_lib:format("~w~s", [Num, Suffix])

Perform an action multiple times based on a boolean condition, checked before the first action (WHILE .. DO)

Starting with a variable x=1, Print the sequence "1,2,4,8,16,32,64,128," by doubling x and checking that x is less than 150.
erlang
X = 1, print_while_X_less_150(X).
Pred = fun (X) -> X < 150 end,
Action = fun (X) -> io:format("~B,", [X]), X * 2 end,
X = 1,

while_do(Pred, Action, X).

Perform an action multiple times based on a boolean condition, checked after the first action (DO .. WHILE)

Simulate rolling a die until you get a six. Produce random numbers, printing them until a six is rolled. An example output might be "4,2,1,2,6"
erlang
Pred = fun (DiceRoll) -> DiceRoll =/= 6 end,
Action = fun (DiceRoll) -> io:format("~B,", [DiceRoll]), dice_roll() end,

do_while(Pred, Action, dice_roll()).
-module(dice).
-export([start/0]).

start() ->
roll(dice_roll()).

roll(6) ->
io:format("6~n", []);
roll(N) ->
io:format("~B,", [N]),
roll(dice_roll()).

dice_roll() -> random:uniform(6).

Perform an action a fixed number of times (FOR)

Display the string "Hello" five times like "HelloHelloHelloHelloHello"
erlang
dotimes(5, fun () -> io:format("Hello") end).
lists:foreach(fun (_) -> io:format("Hello") end, lists:seq(1, 5)).

Perform an action a fixed number of times with a counter

Display the string "10 .. 9 .. 8 .. 7 .. 6 .. 5 .. 4 .. 3 .. 2 .. 1 .. Liftoff!"
erlang
fromto(10, 1, -1, fun (X) -> io:format("~B .. ", [X]) end), io:format("Liftoff!~n").
lists:foreach(fun (X) -> io:format("~B .. ", [X]) end, lists:seq(10, 1, -1)), io:format("Liftoff!~n").

Read the contents of a file into a string

erlang
Text = readfile("Solution607.erl"),
Text = readfile("Solution608.erl"),

Process a file one line at a time

Open the source file to your solution and print each line in the file, prefixed by the line number, like:
1> First line of file
2> Second line of file
3> Third line of file
erlang
Reader = fun (IODevice) -> io:get_line(IODevice, "") end,
Worker = fun (Line, N) -> io:format("~B> ~s", [N, Line]), N + 1 end,

while_not_eof("Solution609.erl", Reader, Worker, 1).
Reader = fun (Filename) -> {ok, Contents} = file:read_file(Filename), Contents end,
Transformer = fun (Line, N) -> string:concat(string:concat(integer_to_list(N), "> "), Line) end,
Printer = fun (Line) -> io:format("~s~n", [Line]) end,

Lines = string:tokens(binary_to_list(Reader("Solution610.erl")), "\n"),
NewLines = lists:zipwith(Transformer, Lines, lists:seq(1, length(Lines))),
lists:foreach(Printer, NewLines).

Write a string to a file

erlang
Line = "This line overwites file contents!\n",
{ok, IODevice} = file:open("test.txt", [write]), file:write(IODevice, Line), file:close(IODevice).

Append to a file

erlang
Line = "This line appended to file!\n",
{ok, IODevice} = file:open("test.txt", [append]), file:write(IODevice, Line), file:close(IODevice).

Process each file in a directory

erlang
% File basenames only - many tasks require absolute paths to work
lists:foreach(fun (FileOrDirPath) -> Worker(FileOrDirPath) end, file:list_dir(Directory)).
% Absolute paths provided - will accomodate most tasks
lists:foreach(fun (FileOrDirPath) -> Worker(FileOrDirPath) end, list_dir_path(Directory)).

Process each file in a directory recursively

erlang
filelib:fold_files(Directory, ".*", true, fun (FileOrDirPath, Acc) -> Worker(FileOrDirPath), Acc end, []).
process_dir(Directory, Worker).

Parse a date and time from a string

Given the string "2008-05-06 13:29", parse it as a date representing 6th March, 2008 1:29:00pm in the local time zone.
erlang
% AFAIK, no datetime-parsing library exists; 'parse_to_datetime' is a simplistic, problem-specific hack
LocalDateTime = erlang:universaltime_to_localtime(parse_to_datetime("2008-05-06 13:29:34")),

Display information about a date

Display the day of month, day of year, month name and day name of the day 8 days from now.

Display a date in different locales

Display a language/locale friendly version of New Year's Day for 2009 for several languages/locales. E.g. for languages English, French, German, Italian, Dutch the output might be something like:

Thursday, January 1, 2009
jeudi 1 janvier 2009
giovedì 1 gennaio 2009
Donnerstag, 1. Januar 2009
donderdag 1 januari 2009

(Indicate in comments where possible if any language specific or operating system configuration needs to be in place.)

Display the current date and time

Create a Date object representing the current date and time. Print it out.
If you can also do this without creating a Date object you can show that too.
erlang
io:format("~p~n", [calendar:local_time()])
OOP

Define a class

Declare a class named Greeter that takes a string on creation and greets using this string if you call the "greet" method.
erlang
Greeter = make_greeter("world!"),
Greeter(greet).

Instantiate object with mutable state

Reimplement the Greeter class so that the 'whom' property or data member remains private but is mutable, and is provided with getter and setter methods. Invoke the setter to change the greetee, invoke 'greet', then use the getter in displaying the line, "I have just greeted {whom}.".

For example, if the greetee is changed to 'Tommy' using the setter, the 'greet' method would display:

Hello, Tommy!

The getter would then be used to display the line:

I have just greeted Tommy.

Implement Inheritance Heirarchy

Implement a Shape abstract class which will form the base of an inheritance hierarchy that models 2D geometric shapes. It will have:

* A non-mutable 'name' property or data member set by derived or descendant classes at construction time
* A 'area' method intended to be overridden by derived or descendant classes ( double precision floating point return value)
* A 'print' method (also for overriding) will display the shape's name, area, and all shape-specific values

Two derived or descendant classes will be created:
* Circle    -> Constructor requires a '
radius' argument, and a 'circumference' method to be implemented  
* Rectangle -> Constructor requires '
length' and 'breadth' arguments, and a 'perimeter' method to be implemented 

Instantiate an object of each class, and invoke each objects '
print' method to show relevant details.

Implement and use an Interface

Create a Serializable interface consisting of 'save' and 'restore' methods, each of which:

* Accept a stream or handle or descriptor argument for the source or destination
* Save to destination or restore from source the properties or data members of the implementing class (restrict yourself to the primitive types 'int' and 'string')

Next, create a Person class which has 'name' and 'age' properties or data members and implements this interface. Instantiate a Person object, save it to a serial stream, and instantiate a new Person object by restoring it from the serial stream.

Check your language appears on the langref.org site

Your language name should appear within the HTML found at the http://langreg.org main page.
erlang
URL = "http://langref.org/", Language = "erlang", Regexp = ".*" ++ URL ++ Language ++ ".*",

case http:request(URL) of
{ok, {_, _, Body}} ->
case regexp:first_match(Body, Regexp) of
{match, _, _} -> io:format("Language ~s exists @ ~s~n", [Language, URL]);
_ -> false
end;
{error, ErrorInfo} -> throw("Error: " ++ http:format_error(ErrorInfo))
end,

Send an email

Use library functions, classes or objects to create a short email addressed to your own email address. The subject should be, "Greetings from langref.org", and the user should be prompted for the message body, and whether to cancel or proceed with sending the email.
XML

Process an XML document

Given the XML Document:

<shopping>
  <item name="bread" quantity="3" price="2.50"/>
  <item name="milk" quantity="2" price="3.50"/>
</shopping>

Print out the total cost of the items, e.g. $14.50
erlang
-include_lib("xmerl/include/xmerl.hrl").
-export([get_total/1]).

get_total(ShoppingList) ->
{XmlElt, _} = xmerl_scan:string(ShoppingList),
Items = xmerl_xpath:string("/shopping/item", XmlElt),
Total = lists:foldl(fun(Item, Tot) ->
[#xmlAttribute{value = PriceString}] = xmerl_xpath:string("/item/@price", Item),
{Price, _} = string:to_float(PriceString),
[#xmlAttribute{value = QuantityString}] = xmerl_xpath:string("/item/@quantity", Item),
{Quantity, _} = string:to_integer(QuantityString),
Tot + Price*Quantity
end,
0, Items),
io:format("$~.2f~n", [Total]).

create some XML programmatically

Given the following CSV:

bread,3,2.50
milk,2,3.50

Produce the equivalent information in XML, e.g.:

<shopping>
  <item name="bread" quantity="3" price="2.50" />
  <item name="milk" quantity="2" price="3.50" />
</shopping>
erlang
to_xml(ShoppingList) ->
Items = lists:map(fun(L) ->
[Name, Quantity, Price] = string:tokens(L, ","),
{item, [{name, Name}, {quantity, Quantity}, {price, Price}], []}
end, string:tokens(ShoppingList, "\n")),
xmerl:export_simple([{shopping, [], Items}], xmerl_xml).

Find all Pythagorean triangles with length or height less than or equal to 20

Pythagorean triangles are right angle triangles whose sides comply with the following equation:

a * a + b * b = c * c

where c represents the length of the hypotenuse, and a and b represent the lengths of the other two sides. Find all such triangles where a, b and c are non-zero integers with a and b less than or equal to 20. Sort your results by the size of the hypotenuse. The expected answer is:

[3, 4, 5]
[6, 8, 10]
[5, 12, 13]
[9, 12, 15]
[8, 15, 17]
[12, 16, 20]
[15, 20, 25]
erlang
find_all_pythagorean_triangles(L) ->
lists:sort(fun({_, _, H1}, {_, _, H2}) -> H1 =< H2 end,
[ { X, Y, Z } ||
X <- lists:seq(1,L),
Y <- lists:seq(1,L),
Z <- lists:seq(1,2*L),
X*X + Y*Y =:= Z*Z,
Y > X,
Z > Y
]).

main(_) ->
List = find_all_pythagorean_triangles(20).
Fun

produces a copy of its own source code

In computing, a quine is a computer program which produces a copy of its own source code as its only output.

Subdivide A Problem To A Pool Of Workers (No Shared Data)

Take a hard to compute problem and split it up between multiple worker threads. In your solution, try to fully utilize available cores or processors. (I'm looking at you, Python!)

Note: In this question, there should be no need for shared state between worker threads while the problem is being solved. Only after every thread completes computation are the answers recombined into a single output.

Example:

-Input-

(In python syntax)

["ab", "we", "tfe", "aoj"]

In other words, a list of random strings.

-Output-

(In python syntax)

[ ["ab", "ba", "aa", "bb", "a", "b"], ["we", "ew", "ww", "ee", "w", "e"], ...

In other words, all possible permutations of each input string are computed.

Subdivide A Problem To A Pool Of Workers (Shared Data)

Take a hard to compute problem and split it up between multiple worker threads. In your solution, try to fully utilize available cores or processors. (I'm looking at you, Python!)

Note: In this question, there should be a need for shared state between worker threads while the problem is being solved.

Example:

-Conway Game of Life-

From Wikipedia:

The universe of the Game of Life is an infinite two-dimensional orthogonal grid of square cells, each of which is in one of two possible states, live or dead. Every cell interacts with its eight neighbors, which are the cells that are directly horizontally, vertically, or diagonally adjacent. At each step in time, the following transitions occur:

1. Any live cell with fewer than two live neighbours dies, as if caused by underpopulation.
2. Any live cell with more than three live neighbours dies, as if by overcrowding.
3. Any live cell with two or three live neighbours lives on to the next generation.
4. Any dead cell with exactly three live neighbours becomes a live cell.

The initial pattern constitutes the seed of the system. The first generation is created by applying the above rules simultaneously to every cell in the seed—births and deaths happen simultaneously, and the discrete moment at which this happens is sometimes called a tick (in other words, each generation is a pure function of the one before). The rules continue to be applied repeatedly to create further generations.


--However, for our purposes, we will assign a size to the game "board": 2^k * 2^k . That is, the board should be easy to subdivide.

Notice that in this problem, at each step or "tick", each thread/process will need to share data with its neighborhood.

Create a multithreaded "Hello World"

Create a program which outputs the string "Hello World" to the console, multiple times, using separate threads or processes.

Example:

-Output-

Thread one says Hello World!
Thread two says Hello World!
Thread four says Hello World!
Thread three says Hello World!

-Notice that the threads can print in any order.
erlang
-module(spam).
-export([spam/1]).

spam(N) when N<5 ->
spawn(fun() -> io:format("Hello World from thread ~p~n",[N]) end),
spam(N+1);
spam(_) -> void.

Create read/write lock on a shared resource.

Create multiple threads or processes who are either readers or writers. There should be more readers then writers.

(From Wikipedia):

Multiple readers can read the data in parallel but an exclusive lock is needed while writing the data. When a writer is writing the data, readers will be blocked until the writer is finished writing.

Example:

-Output-

Thread one says that the value is 8.
Thread three says that the value is 8.
Thread two is taking the lock.
Thread four tried to read the value, but could not.
Thread five tried to write to the value, but could not.
Thread two is changing the value to 9.
Thread two is releasing the lock.
Thread four says that the value is 9.
...

--Notice that when a needed resource is locked, a thread can set a timer and try again in the future, or wait to be notified that the resource is no longer locked.

Separate user interaction and computation.

Allow your program to accept user interaction while conducting a long running computation.

Example:

Hello user! Please input a string to permute: (input thread)
abcdef
Passing on abcdef... (input thread)
Please input another string to permute: (input thread)
lol
Passing on lol... (input thread)
Done Work On abcdef! (worker thread)
["abcdef", "abcefd", ... ] (worker thread)
Please input another string to permute: (input thread)
EXIT
Quitting, I'll let my worker thread know... (input thread)
We'
re quitting! Alright! (worker thread)

--Notice, that this could be accomplished on the command line or within a GUI. The point is that computation and user interaction should take place on separate threads of control.