23/05/2022, 16:17 COMP1521 22T1 — Week 01 Laboratory Sample Solutions
Week 01
Laboratory
Sample Solutions
Objectives
to refamiliarise yourself with C
to practice interacting with files and standard I/O
to practice interacting with command-line arguments
to explore implementing recursive functions
Preparation
Before the lab you should re-read the relevant lecture slides and their accompanying examples.
Getting Started
Set up for the lab by
creating a new directory called lab01 and changing to this directory.
$ mkdir lab01
$ cd lab01
There are some provided files for this lab which you can fetch with this command:
$ 1521 fetch lab01
If you're not working at CSE,
you can download the provided files
as a zip file
or a tar file.
exercise — individual:
Remove All Vowels from STDIN
Write a C program no_vowels.c which reads characters from its input
and writes the same characters to its output, except it does
not write vowels.
Your program should stop only at the end of input.
no_vowels.c must only use:
scanf to read one character at a time from stdin.
printf to print one character at a time to stdout.
Once you have no_vowels.c working correctly it should behave as follows:
$ ./no_vowels
Hello, World!
Hll, Wrld!
Ctrl-D
$ echo "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers." > input
$ ./no_vowels < input
Ptr Ppr pckd pck f pckld ppprs.
$ ./no_vowels
Andrew is the LiC of COMP1521
ndrw s th LC f CMP1521
Are you saying 'Boo' or 'Boo-Urns'?
r y syng 'B' r 'B-rns'?
In this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!
n ths hs, w by th lws f thrmdynmcs!
Ctrl-D
https://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs1521/22T1/lab/01/answers 1/16
23/05/2022, 16:17 COMP1521 22T1 — Week 01 Laboratory Sample Solutions
HINT:
$ man 3 scanf
$ man 3 printf
NOTE:
You can assume a vowel is one of the ASCII values 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u' and their uppercase equivalents 'A', 'E', 'I', 'O', 'U'.
You should not make any assumptions on the number of characters supplied to your program.
When you think your program is working,
you can use autotest
to run some simple automated tests:
$ 1521 autotest no_vowels
When you are finished working on this exercise,
you must
submit your work by running give:
$ give cs1521 lab01_no_vowels no_vowels.c
You must run give before Wednesday 02 March 21:00
to obtain the marks for this lab exercise.
Note that this is an individual
exercise,
the work you submit with give must be entirely your own.
SOLUTION:
Sample solution for no_vowels.c
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main(void) {
char c;
// scanf will read from STDIN
// the `format string` "%c" tells scanf to read a single byte
// the single byte is stored at the location of c
// ie. c is set to the value of a character from STDIN
// scanf will return the number of format specifiers matched
// we have one format specifier "%c" so we expect to have 1 returned
while (scanf("%c", &c) == 1) {
// strchr will return NULL iff
// c isn't in the string "aAeEiIoOuU"
// ie. check that c isn't a vowel
if (strchr("aAeEiIoOuU", c) == NULL) {
// printf will write to STDOUT
// the `format string` "%c" tells printf to write a single byte
printf("%c", c);
return 0;
exercise — individual:
Transform All Uppercase letters to Lowercase
Write a C program no_uppercase.c which reads characters from its input
and writes the same characters to its output, any upper
case letters are replaced
by their as lower case equivalent.
https://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs1521/22T1/lab/01/answers 2/16
23/05/2022, 16:17 COMP1521 22T1 — Week 01 Laboratory Sample Solutions
Your program should stop only at the end of input.
Add code to no_uppercase.c so that,
given text on stdin, any uppercase letters are printed as lowercase to stdout.
no_uppercase.c must only use:
getchar to read one character at a time from stdin.
putchar to print one character at a time to stdout.
Once you have no_uppercase.c working correctly it should behave as follows:
$ ./no_uppercase
ABC
abc
ABCabc123
abcabc123
123!@#
123!@#
Hello, World!
hello, world!
Andrew is the LiC of COMP1521
andrew is the lic of comp1521
Ctrl-D
$ echo "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers." > input
$ ./no_uppercase < input
peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
HINT:
$ man 3 getchar
$ man 3 putchar
$ man 3 tolower
$ man 7 ascii
When you think your program is working,
you can use autotest
to run some simple automated tests:
$ 1521 autotest no_uppercase
When you are finished working on this exercise,
you must
submit your work by running give:
$ give cs1521 lab01_no_uppercase no_uppercase.c
You must run give before Wednesday 02 March 21:00
to obtain the marks for this lab exercise.
Note that this is an individual
exercise,
the work you submit with give must be entirely your own.
SOLUTION:
Sample solution for no_uppercase.c
https://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs1521/22T1/lab/01/answers 3/16
23/05/2022, 16:17 COMP1521 22T1 — Week 01 Laboratory Sample Solutions
#include <stdio.h>
#include <ctype.h>
int main(void) {
// the type of c must be int
// using char here is a common C programming error
int c;
// getchar will read a single byte from STDIN
// the single byte is returned by getchar
// getchar will return the special value EOF if it can not read a byte
while ((c = getchar()) != EOF) {
// tolower will write a single byte to STDOUT
// If c is an uppercase letter, tolower() returns its lowercase equivalent
// Otherwise, it returns c.
putchar(tolower(c));
return 0;
exercise — individual:
Remove Uneven Lines of Input
Add code to no_odd_lines.c so that,
given text on stdin, only print lines with an even number of characters to stdout.
no_odd_lines.c must only use:
fgets to read one line at a time from stdin.
fputs to print one line at a time to stdout.
Once you have no_odd_lines.c working correctly it should behave as follows:
$ ./no_odd_lines
Hello, World
Hello, World!
Hello, World!
Sri is the LiC of COMP1521
Sri is the LiC of COMP1521, and Jashank is the admin.
Sri is the LiC of COMP1521, and Jashank is the admin.
Ctrl-D
$ echo "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers." > input
$ echo "A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked." >> input
$ echo "If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers," >> input
$ echo "Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?" >> input
$ ./no_odd_lines < input
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
HINT:
$ man 3 fgets
$ man 3 fputs
$ man 3 strlen
NOTE:
https://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs1521/22T1/lab/01/answers 4/16
23/05/2022, 16:17 COMP1521 22T1 — Week 01 Laboratory Sample Solutions
The newline character(s) should be included in your count of characters.
You can assume lines contain at most 1024 characters including the newline character(s).
When you think your program is working,
you can use autotest
to run some simple automated tests:
$ 1521 autotest no_odd_lines
When you are finished working on this exercise,
you must
submit your work by running give:
$ give cs1521 lab01_no_odd_lines no_odd_lines.c
You must run give before Wednesday 02 March 21:00
to obtain the marks for this lab exercise.
Note that this is an individual
exercise,
the work you submit with give must be entirely your own.
SOLUTION:
Sample solution for no_odd_lines.c
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#define MAX_LINE_LENGTH 1024
int main(void) {
// line needs 1 extra byte of space to hold the `NULL byte`
char line[MAX_LINE_LENGTH + 1];
// fgets reads at most `sizeof line` - 1 bytes from `stdin`
// the bytes are stored in `line` followed by a `NULL byte`
// fgets will also stop reading when it reads a newline (\n)
// The address of `line` is returned, or NULL on EOF
while (fgets(line, sizeof line, stdin) != NULL) {
// strlen return the number of bytes in `line`
// until it reaches a `NULL byte`
if (!(strlen(line) % 2)) {
// fputs will write the contests of `line` to `stdout`
// untill it reaches a `NULL byte`
fputs(line, stdout);
return 0;
exercise — individual:
Pretty Print Command Line Arguments
Add code to my_args.c so that,
given 0 or more command line arguments,
the command line arguments are "pretty printed".
Once you have my_args.c working correctly it should behave as follows:
https://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs1521/22T1/lab/01/answers 5/16
23/05/2022, 16:17 COMP1521 22T1 — Week 01 Laboratory Sample Solutions
$ ./my_args
Program name: ./my_args
There are no other arguments
$ ../lab01/my_args
Program name: ../lab01/my_args
There are no other arguments
$ ./my_args hello world
Program name: ./my_args
There are 2 arguments:
Argument 1 is "hello"
Argument 2 is "world"
$ ./my_args "hello world" 1 2 3 4 5
Program name: ./my_args
There are 6 arguments:
Argument 1 is "hello world"
Argument 2 is "1"
Argument 3 is "2"
Argument 4 is "3"
Argument 5 is "4"
Argument 6 is "5"
$
When you think your program is working,
you can use autotest
to run some simple automated tests:
$ 1521 autotest my_args
When you are finished working on this exercise,
you must
submit your work by running give:
$ give cs1521 lab01_my_args my_args.c
You must run give before Wednesday 02 March 21:00
to obtain the marks for this lab exercise.
Note that this is an individual
exercise,
the work you submit with give must be entirely your own.
SOLUTION:
Sample solution for my_args.c
#include <stdio.h>
int main(int argc, char **argv) {
printf("Program name: %s\n", argv[0]);
if (argc == 1) {
printf("There are no other arguments\n");
} else {
printf("There are %d arguments:\n", argc-1);
for (int i = 1; i < argc ;i++) {
printf("\tArgument %d is \"%s\"\n", i, argv[i]);
return 0;
exercise — individual:
Statistical Analysis of Command Line Arguments
Add code to arg_stats.c so that,
given 1 or more command line arguments,
it prints the minimum and maximum values,
the sum and
product of all the values,
and the mean of all the values.
Once you have arg_stats.c working correctly it should behave as follows:
https://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs1521/22T1/lab/01/answers 6/16
23/05/2022, 16:17 COMP1521 22T1 — Week 01 Laboratory Sample Solutions
$ ./arg_stats
Usage: ./arg_stats NUMBER [NUMBER ...]
$ ./arg_stats 1
MIN: 1
MAX: 1
SUM: 1
PROD: 1
MEAN: 1
$ ./arg_stats 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
MIN: 1
MAX: 9
SUM: 45
PROD: 362880
MEAN: 5
$ ./arg_stats 9 8 7 6 1 2 3 5 4
MIN: 1
MAX: 9
SUM: 45
PROD: 362880
MEAN: 5
$ ./arg_stats 1 9 1 9 1 9
MIN: 1
MAX: 9
SUM: 30
PROD: 729
MEAN: 5
$
HINT:
$ man 3 atoi
When you think your program is working,
you can use autotest
to run some simple automated tests:
$ 1521 autotest arg_stats
When you are finished working on this exercise,
you must
submit your work by running give:
$ give cs1521 lab01_arg_stats arg_stats.c
You must run give before Wednesday 02 March 21:00
to obtain the marks for this lab exercise.
Note that this is an individual
exercise,
the work you submit with give must be entirely your own.
SOLUTION:
Sample solution for arg_stats.c
https://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs1521/22T1/lab/01/answers 7/16
23/05/2022, 16:17 COMP1521 22T1 — Week 01 Laboratory Sample Solutions
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int main(int argc, char **argv) {
if (argc == 1) {
fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s NUMBER [NUMBER ...]\n", argv[0]);
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
int min = atoi(argv[1]);
int max = atoi(argv[1]);
int sum = 0;
int prod = 1;
for (int i = 1; i < argc ;i++) {
min = min < atoi(argv[i])? min : atoi(argv[i]);
max = max > atoi(argv[i])? max : atoi(argv[i]);
sum += atoi(argv[i]);
prod *= atoi(argv[i]);
printf("MIN: %d\n", min);
printf("MAX: %d\n", max);
printf("SUM: %d\n", sum);
printf("PROD: %d\n", prod);
printf("MEAN: %d\n", sum / (argc - 1));
return 0;
exercise — individual:
(Dis)Proving the Collatz Conjecture
Add code to collatz.c that take a single positive integer
as a command-line argument and prints the
collatz chain
for that number.
This is how the collatz chain is calculated:
If the current number is 1, the series terminates.
If the current number is ODD, then multiply by 3 and add 1 to get the next number
If the current number is EVEN, then divide by 2 to get the next number
NOTE:
You must implement collatz.c using a recursive function.
Once you have collatz.c working correctly it should behave as follows:
https://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs1521/22T1/lab/01/answers 8/16
23/05/2022, 16:17 COMP1521 22T1 — Week 01 Laboratory Sample Solutions
$ ./collatz
Usage: ./collatz NUMBER
$ ./collatz 1
$ ./collatz 12
12
10
16
$ ./collatz 10
10
16
When you think your program is working,
you can use autotest
to run some simple automated tests:
$ 1521 autotest collatz
When you are finished working on this exercise,
you must
submit your work by running give:
$ give cs1521 lab01_collatz collatz.c
You must run give before Wednesday 02 March 21:00
to obtain the marks for this lab exercise.
Note that this is an individual
exercise,
the work you submit with give must be entirely your own.
SOLUTION:
Sample solution for collatz.c
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
void collatz(int);
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
if (argc != 2) {
printf("Usage: %s NUMBER", argv[0]);
return EXIT_FAILURE;
collatz(atoi(argv[1]));
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
void collatz(int n) {
printf("%d\n", n);
if (n == 1) {
return;
} else if (n % 2 == 1) {
collatz((3 * n) + 1);
} else {
collatz(n/2);
https://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs1521/22T1/lab/01/answers 9/16
23/05/2022, 16:17 COMP1521 22T1 — Week 01 Laboratory Sample Solutions
exercise — individual:
Calculating the Fibonacci Sequence The (Not So) Fast Way
Add code to fibonacci.c so that,
given a line of input containing a natural number
the corresponding fibonacci number is printed.
This is how you obtain your fibonacci number:
Starting with 0 and 1:
Add the preceding two fibonacci number together to get the current fibonacci number:
NOTE:
You must implement fibonacci.c using a recursive function.
fibonacci.c should continue reading input and outputing ansers until it recived EOF.
fibonacci.c doesn't need to calculate any values larger than the 30th fibonacci number.
Once you have fibonacci.c working correctly it should behave as follows:
$ ./fibonacci
34
Ctrl-D
NOTE:
You can assume the largest integer entered will be 30.
When you think your program is working,
you can use autotest
to run some simple automated tests:
$ 1521 autotest fibonacci
When you are finished working on this exercise,
you must
submit your work by running give:
$ give cs1521 lab01_fibonacci fibonacci.c
You must run give before Wednesday 02 March 21:00
to obtain the marks for this lab exercise.
Note that this is an individual
exercise,
the work you submit with give must be entirely your own.
SOLUTION:
Sample solution for fibonacci.c
https://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs1521/22T1/lab/01/answers 10/16
23/05/2022, 16:17 COMP1521 22T1 — Week 01 Laboratory Sample Solutions
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#define SERIES_MAX 30
int fib(int n);
int main(void)
int n;
while (scanf("%d", &n) == 1) printf("%d\n", fib(n));
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
int fib(int n)
if (n <= 0 || n > SERIES_MAX) return 0;
if (n == 1 || n == 2) return 1;
return fib(n - 1) + fib(n - 2);
SOLUTION:
Alternative solution for fibonacci.c
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#define SERIES_MAX 30
int fib(int n, int already_computed[]);
int main(void) {
int already_computed[SERIES_MAX + 1] = { 0, 1 };
int n;
while (scanf("%d", &n) == 1) {
printf("%d\n", fib(n, already_computed));
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
int fib(int n, int already_computed[]) {
if (n <= 0 || n > SERIES_MAX) {
return 0;
if (already_computed[n] != 0) {
return already_computed[n];
int value = fib(n - 1, already_computed) + fib(n - 2, already_computed);
already_computed[n] = value;
return value;
challenge exercise — individual:
Do You MIPS me?
Write a MIPS assembler program bad_pun.s,
which is equivalent to this C program:
https://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs1521/22T1/lab/01/answers 11/16
23/05/2022, 16:17 COMP1521 22T1 — Week 01 Laboratory Sample Solutions
// A simple C program that attempts to be punny
#include <stdio.h>
int main(void)
printf("Well, this was a MIPStake!\n");
return 0;
For example:
$ 1521 mipsy bad_pun.s
Well, this was a MIPStake!
HINT:
The i_love_mips.s
lecture example would make a good starting point.
When you think your program is working,
you can use autotest
to run some simple automated tests:
$ 1521 autotest bad_pun
When you are finished working on this exercise,
you must
submit your work by running give:
$ give cs1521 lab01_bad_pun bad_pun.s
You must run give before Wednesday 02 March 21:00
to obtain the marks for this lab exercise.
Note that this is an individual
exercise,
the work you submit with give must be entirely your own.
SOLUTION:
Sample solution for bad_pun.s
#
# COMP1521 lab exercise sample solution
# A simple MIPS program that attempts to be punny
# Written 2/10/2019
main:
la $a0, string # get address of string
li $v0, 4 # 4 is print string syscall
syscall
jr $ra # return
.data
string: .asciiz "Well, this was a MIPStake!\n"
challenge exercise — individual:
Cheating in maths class
Write a MIPS assembler program gaussian_sum.s,
which is equivalent to this C program:
https://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs1521/22T1/lab/01/answers 12/16
23/05/2022, 16:17 COMP1521 22T1 — Week 01 Laboratory Sample Solutions
// A simple C program that calculates the Gaussian sum between two numbers
// Written 12/2/2022
#include <stdio.h>
int main(void)
int number1, number2;
printf("Enter first number: ");
scanf("%d", &number1);
printf("Enter second number: ");
scanf("%d", &number2);
int gaussian_sum = ((number2 - number1 + 1) * (number1 + number2)) / 2;
printf("The sum of all numbers between %d and %d (inclusive) is: %d\n", number1, number2, gaussian_sum);
return 0;
For example:
$ 1521 mipsy gaussian_sum.s
Enter first number: 1
Enter second number: 100
The sum of all numbers between 1 and 100 (inclusive) is: 5050
$ 1521 mipsy gaussian_sum.s
Enter first number: 1
Enter second number: 1000
The sum of all numbers between 1 and 1000 (inclusive) is: 500500
$ 1521 mipsy gaussian_sum.s
Enter first number: 10
Enter second number: 13
The sum of all numbers between 10 and 13 (inclusive) is: 46
HINT:
You can assume that the first number is always smaller than or equal to the second number
You can assume that all input and calculated values can fit in 32-bits
When you think your program is working,
you can use autotest
to run some simple automated tests:
$ 1521 autotest gaussian_sum
When you are finished working on this exercise,
you must
submit your work by running give:
$ give cs1521 lab01_gaussian_sum gaussian_sum.s
You must run give before Wednesday 02 March 21:00
to obtain the marks for this lab exercise.
Note that this is an individual
exercise,
the work you submit with give must be entirely your own.
SOLUTION:
Sample solution for gaussian_sum.s
https://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs1521/22T1/lab/01/answers 13/16
23/05/2022, 16:17 COMP1521 22T1 — Week 01 Laboratory Sample Solutions
# COMP1521 lab exercise sample solution
# A simple MIPS program that calculates the Gaussian sum between two numbers
# Written 12/2/2022
# int main(void)
# {
# int number1, number2;
# printf("Enter first number: ");
# scanf("%d", &number1);
# printf("Enter second number: ");
# scanf("%d", &number2);
# int gaussian_sum = ((number2 - number1 + 1) * (number1 + number2)) / 2;
# printf("The sum of all numbers between %d and %d (inclusive) is: %d\n", number1, number2,
gaussian_sum);
#
# return 0;
# }
main:
# print the first prompt
la $a0, prompt1 # get address of string
li $v0, 4 # 4 is the print string syscall
syscall
# read the first integer
li $v0, 5 # 5 is the read integer syscall
syscall
move $t1, $v0 # $t1 is `number1`
# print the second prompt
la $a0, prompt2 # get address of string
li $v0, 4 # 4 is the print string syscall
syscall
# read the second integer
li $v0, 5 # 5 is the read integer syscall
syscall
move $t2, $v0 # $t2 is `number2`
# calculat the length of our range
sub $t3, $t2, $t1 # `number2` - `number1`
addi $t3, $t3, 1 # + 1
# calculat the sum of the limits of our range
add $t4, $t1, $t2 # `number1` + `number2`
# calculat the Gaussian sum of our range
mul $t0, $t3, $t4 # length * sum of limits
div $t0, $t0, 2 # / 2
# print the first answer part
la $a0, answer1 # get address of string
li $v0, 4 # 4 is the print string syscall
syscall
# print the first number
move $a0, $t1
li $v0, 1 # 1 is the print integer syscall
syscall
# print the second answer part
la $a0, answer2 # get address of string
li $v0, 4 # 4 is the print string syscall
syscall
https://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs1521/22T1/lab/01/answers 14/16
23/05/2022, 16:17 COMP1521 22T1 — Week 01 Laboratory Sample Solutions
# print the second number
move $a0, $t2
li $v0, 1 # 1 is the print integer syscall
syscall
# print the third answer part
la $a0, answer3 # get address of string
li $v0, 4 # 4 is the print string syscall
syscall
# print the Gaussian sum
move $a0, $t0
li $v0, 1 # 1 is the print integer syscall
syscall
# print the first answer part
li $a0, '\n'
li $v0, 11 # 11 is the print char syscall
syscall
li $v0, 0
jr $ra # return
.data
prompt1: .asciiz "Enter first number: "
prompt2: .asciiz "Enter second number: "
answer1: .asciiz "The sum of all numbers between "
answer2: .asciiz " and "
answer3: .asciiz " (inclusive) is: "
Submission
When you are finished each exercises make sure you submit your work by running give.
You can run give multiple times.
Only your last submission will be marked.
Don't submit any exercises you haven't attempted.
If you are working at home, you may find it more convenient
to upload your work via
give's web interface.
Remember you have until
Week 3 Wednesday 21:00:00 to submit your work.
You cannot obtain marks by e-mailing your code to tutors or lecturers.
You check the files you have submitted here.
Automarking will be run by the lecturer several days after the submission deadline,
using test cases different to those autotest runs
for you.
(Hint: do your own testing as well as running autotest.)
After automarking is run by the lecturer
you can view your results here.
The resulting mark will also be available
via give's web
interface.
Lab Marks
When all components of a lab are automarked you should be able to view the
the marks via give's web interface
or by running this
command on a CSE machine:
$ 1521 classrun -sturec
COMP1521 22T1: Computer Systems Fundamentals is brought to you by
the School of Computer Science and Engineering
at the University of New South Wales, Sydney.
For all enquiries, please email the class account at
[email protected]https://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs1521/22T1/lab/01/answers 15/16
23/05/2022, 16:17 COMP1521 22T1 — Week 01 Laboratory Sample Solutions
CRICOS Provider 00098G
https://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs1521/22T1/lab/01/answers 16/16
