Trying to create a triangle but with spaces leading the * (hope that makes sense)

[unsafehaven]

****
 ***   
  **
   *

That is what i am trying to get, seems really simple but I have been through about a million variations of my code and am just getting really frustrated.

    for (j = 0; j < 3; j++)
    {
        for (i = 0; i < j; i++)
        {
        cout << " ";
        }
    cout << "*" << endl;
    }
 

Here is what i am using, thoughts?

[Banfa]

I assume you have tried what you have, looking at it it appears that it would put spaces before every * not just before the first one.

Think about the problem in a general way, its general structure should be

For Each Line
    Output 0 or more spaces
    Output 1 or more *
EndFor
 

Since you are using a loop to output the right number of spaces and the right number of * that suggests a code structure of

for() // For each line
{
  for() // the right number of spaces for this line
  {
      // output space
  }
  for() // the right number of * for this line
  {
      // output *
  }
}
 

Compare that with your code and you will see you have 1 loop too few.

[weaknessforcats]

Try a simple approach.

Start with an array of *****.
Display the array.
Change array[0] to a space.
Display the array.
Change array[1] to space.
Display the array.
etc...

There even simpler approaches than this.

[donbock]

Be careful to use an actual array, not a pointer to a string literal. From 6.4.5 in the C Standard "If the program attempts to modify such an array [a string literal], the behavior is undefined."

[unsafehaven]

//object 4
    for (j = 0; j < 3; j++)
    {
        for (i = 0; i < j; i++)
        {
            cout << " ";
        }
        for (k = 3 - 1;k > j;k--)
        {
            cout << "*";
        }
    cout << "*" << endl;
    }
 

Wow that was really easy after thinking about it as you put it. The whole time I was thinking of nesting a third loop inside the second. Would it be possible to do that way? Or what is the shortest way to write something like this? I just want to be able to see some other options to open my mind a little more. Thanks again for the help, last night i was super frustrated.

[Banfa]

Putting the 3rd loop inside the second is unlikely to work because you would be executing the third loop multiple times for each line.

If you think about what you are outputting it is a grid of characters, that has 2 dimensions and again that suggests 2 loops or only 2 loops active at one time which is what your code does. The suggestion of only 2 loops leads to an alternate structure for the code though like this

For Each Line
    For Each Character of the Line
        If At or Past the Point Where * is Required
            Output *
        Else
            Output Space
        EndIf
    EndFor
EndFor
 

Another exercise you could try would be to re-write your code without the variable k which is possible.