NewStats: 3,259,756 , 8,170,842 topics. Date: Sunday, 25 May 2025 at 10:40 PM 20s28

You can attempt the problem with any language you are comfortable with.

Problem statement
you are given an n by m grid (n is the number of rows and m is the number of columns), the grid only contains just the characters '*' and '#', a whole manhattan circle exit's on the grid. The coordinates of the top left corner and bottom right corner of this grid are (1,1) and (n,m) respectively.

The point (a,b) is a part of the manhattan circle which is centered at (h,k) if | h - a | + | k - b | < r , where r is a positive constant and | x - y | represents the absolute value of x - y.

On this grid, all points that are a part of the manhattan circle are denoted by the '#' character. Your task is to find the coordinates of the circles center.

Input
The first line contains t ( 1 <= t <= 1000) --- The number of testcases.
The first line of each testcase contain n and m (1 <= n *m <= 2*10⁵) which both stand for the height and width of the grid respectively.

The next n lines contain m characters that are either '.' or '#'. If the character is '#', then you know that the point is a part of the circle.

Output
For each t, your code has to print two integers, the coordinates of the circles center.


Example
Input
6
5 5
*****
*****
**#**
*****
*****
5 5
**#**
*###*
#####
*###*
**#**
5 6
******
******
*#****
###***
*#****
1 1
#
5 6
***#**
**###*
*#####
**###*
***#**
2 10
**********
***#******

Output
3 3
3 3
4 2
1 1
3 4
2 4



Let us see those that are real programmers

nlfpmod mynd44 farano dominique, is this fun enough for front page?

I no get strength to attempt without money

RealLordZeus:
I no get strength to attempt without money

na so, just say you can't solve it, nobody will mock you.

turmacs:
na so, just say you can't solve it, nobody will mock you.

yes you are right

OP, you know that there's AI that can write fully functional code that solves this. I Just threw it at my "weak" self hosted LLM and it has churned out Python and C++ code that look workable

airsaylongcome:
OP, you know that there's AI that can write fully functional code that solves this. I Just threw it at my "weak" self hosted LLM and it has churned out Python and C++ code that look workable

Lolzzz.. Except your "LLM" or "AI" is better than chatgpt, i don't think it can solve this one because chatgpt could not solve it. No be by cho , cho , cho, show workings Post the solution here let us see it.

turmacs:
na so, just say you can't solve it, nobody will mock you.

is this a new avatar of Devdevdev? Sounded like a female version of Tastedfriedpussy

Sorry I'm trying to edit this post but Nairaland and their Cloudflare keeps rejecting

turmacs:
Lolzzz.. Except your "LLM" or "AI" is better than chatgpt, i don't think it can solve this one because chatgpt could not solve it. No be by cho , cho , cho, show workings Post the solution here let us see it.

Hope Cloudflare finally allows me to post 😑

This is the updated response from Google's Gemini Advanced

After getting the first code which I've removed, I tried to run it but it didn't run, so the AI debugged the code till it eventually ran...

PulsingPurple:


Hope Cloudflare finally allows me to post 😑

This is the updated response from Google's Gemini Advanced

After getting the first code which I've removed, I tried to run it but it didn't run, so the AI debugged the code till it eventually ran...

Wow this is actually correct and I am really surprised that it could solve it (although this a very easy problem). Chatgpt just solved nonsense. So no software engineer on NL could solve this till now? wonderfull.

turmacs:
Lolzzz.. Except your "LLM" or "AI" is better than chatgpt, i don't think it can solve this one because chatgpt could not solve it. No be by cho , cho , cho, show workings Post the solution here let us see it.

#include <iostream>
#include <vector>

using namespace std;

pair<int, int> findCircleCenter(int n, int m, vector<string>& grid) {
    int rowSum = 0, colSum = 0, count = 0;

    for (int i = 0; i < n; ++i) {
        for (int j = 0; j < m; ++j) {
            if (grid[i][j] == '#') {
                rowSum += i + 1;
                colSum += j + 1;
                count++;
            }
        }
    }

    int centerRow = (rowSum + count - 1) / count;
    int centerCol = (colSum + count - 1) / count;

    return make_pair(centerRow, centerCol);
}

int main() {
    int t;
    cout << "Enter the number of test cases: ";
    cin >> t;

    while (t--) {
        int n, m;
        cout << "Enter the dimensions of the grid (n m): ";
        cin >> n >> m;

        vector<string> grid(n);
        cout << "Enter the grid (each row on a new line):\n";
        for (int i = 0; i < n; ++i) {
            cin >> grid[i];
        }

        pair<int, int> center = findCircleCenter(n, m, grid);

        cout << "Center of the circle: " << center.first << " " << center.second << endl;
    }

    return 0;
}

turmacs:
Wow this is actually correct and I am really surprised that it could solve it (although this a very easy problem). Chatgpt just solved nonsense. So no software engineer on NL could solve this till now? wonderfull.

I heard ChatGPT is better than Gemini...
It would have probably debugged it's error code if you kept on directing it...

The developers here are probably tired
Let AI assist them 😅

PulsingPurple:


I heard ChatGPT is better than Gemini...
It would have probably debugged it's error code if you kept on directing it...

The developers here are probably tired
Let AI assist them 😅

I'm surprised they earlier said ChatGPT couldn't solve it. Just running llama3 on a Raspberry pi could churn out correct code in different languages. Let alone throwing the compute power of ChatGPT. OP needs to learn Prompt Engineering

PS: Just realized how old school I am. I'm only comfortable with C++ or Java source code

airsaylongcome:


I'm surprised they earlier said ChatGPT couldn't solve it. Just running llama3 on a Raspberry pi could churn out correct code in different languages. Let alone throwing the compute power of ChatGPT. OP needs to learn Prompt Engineering

PS: Just realized how old school I am. I'm only comfortable with C++ or Java source code

Prompt Engineering sounds like one of those complex grammar people choose to use for simple matters, everyone should just be aware of how to force the AI to spew desired info (lol).
...

Right now I'm more concerned with the thought that you have a Raspberry Pi, and that it runs your own isolated LLM... Is this what techies do with their free time? I thought it'll be only Americans...

Have you heard of ChatBawa the Nigerian LLM... (it's a failed project currently)
You may want to their team 🙂

PulsingPurple:


Prompt Engineering sounds like one of those complex grammar people choose to use for simple matters, everyone should just be aware of how to force the AI to spew desired info (lol).
...

Right now I'm more concerned with the thought that you have a Raspberry Pi, and that it runs your own isolated LLM... Is this what techies do with their free time? I thought it'll be only Americans...

Have you heard of ChatBawa the Nigerian LLM... (it's a failed project currently)
You may want to their team 🙂

I no dey any Nigerian blah blah blah...our matter too dey get problem.

Regarding the Pi, it's not running a self built LLM o. It's Ollama with llama3 model. I'm trying to train it to see where I get...yes there are some airheads like us who consider this as "free time toy".

Prompt Engineering is actually developing into a Career! Seen some $50/hr job postings around it. And yes, it is big grammar for the prompt you provide the AI

airsaylongcome:


I no dey any Nigerian blah blah blah...our matter too dey get problem.

Na play oo 😂

Regarding the Pi, it's not running a self built LLM o. It's Ollama with llama3 model. I'm trying to train it to see where I get...yes there are some airheads like us who consider this as "free time toy".

Prompt Engineering is actually developing into a Career! Seen some $50/hr job postings around it. And yes, it is big grammar for the prompt you provide the AI

Yh I know it's not self trained... Shebi it's Llama3 na... It's just this Pi stuff
Just like Indian techies will buy Arduino and program small gadgets... It's sha cool

I usually get annoyed at those Fiverr guys and their ridiculous pricing for this AI stuff.
Just like people charging the elderly so much just to install apps and put music on their newly bought smartphone.

PulsingPurple:


Na play oo 😂

Yh I know it's not self trained... Shebi it's Llama3 na... It's just this Pi stuff
Just like Indian techies will buy Arduino and program small gadgets... It's sha cool

I usually get annoyed at those Fiverr guys and their ridiculous pricing for this AI stuff.
Just like people charging the elderly so much just to install apps and put music on their newly bought smartphone.

For the Pi stuff, hmmmm make I no talk too much o. I've got several single board computers mostly Pis, Odroids and NanoPi So if I'm not messing about with Home Assistant or openHAB, I'm running a router(openwrt) or a PBX or something esoteric.

turmacs:
Wow this is actually correct and I am really surprised that it could solve it (although this a very easy problem). Chatgpt just solved nonsense. So no software engineer on NL could solve this till now? wonderfull.

Please, break down the question and answer so that we the entry level devs can learn. Thanks

turmacs:

Let us see those that are real programmers

So DevDevDev is no longer anonymous? She has finally showed us her real

tosinhtml:



So DevDevDev is no longer anonymous? She has finally showed us her real

Who is this DevDevDev abeg? the other guy say na TastedFriedPussy... Na wa ohh.

airsaylongcome:

[code] #include <iostream> #include <vector>
using namespace std;
pair<int, int> findCircleCenter(int n, int m, vector<string>& grid) { int rowSum = 0, colSum = 0, count = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < n; ++i) { for (int j = 0; j < m; ++j) { if (grid[i][j] == '#') { rowSum += i + 1; colSum += j + 1; count++; } } }
int centerRow = (rowSum + count - 1) / count; int centerCol = (colSum + count - 1) / count;
return make_pair(centerRow, centerCol); }
int main() { int t; cout << "Enter the number of test cases: "; cin >> t;
while (t--) { int n, m; cout << "Enter the dimensions of the grid (n m): "; cin >> n >> m;
vector<string> grid(n); cout << "Enter the grid (each row on a new line):\n";

nice one sir

turmacs:
Wow this is actually correct and I am really surprised that it could solve it (although this a very easy problem). Chatgpt just solved nonsense. So no software engineer on NL could solve this till now? wonderfull.

Mad woman.

How much are you paying... you have gone to solve it with ChatGpt and it couldn't solve it for you after all your trials you yourself couldn't solve it.

I know you went to Google and get the answer somewhere then brought the question here to console yourself thinking everyone is dumb like you.

No one self should waste time trying to solve it for you as you just want to ridicule people and console yourself instead of learning.

Fork u!

turmacs:
Wow this is actually correct and I am really surprised that it could solve it (although this a very easy problem). Chatgpt just solved nonsense. So no software engineer on NL could solve this till now? wonderfull.

Software Engineers on NL will not waste their valuable time on such a tasks that lack commercial viability. Such tasks you posted from Leetcode are typically more suited for university mathematics students who are learning to apply programming to solve their mathematical exercises.

Here is an example of what Software Engineers on NL will spend their valuable time on:

Implement a piece of online software suitable for use by a cinema. The system should be
capable of providing information about films currently showing, and of the availability
of seats in the cinema. The system should allow for seats to be booked either
individually or as a block. For example a block of 3 seats would require 3 adjacent
seats to be booked together.

MindHacker9009:


Software Engineers on NL will not waste their valuable time on such a tasks that lack commercial viability. Such tasks you posted are typically more suited for university mathematics students who are learning to apply programming to solve their mathematical exercises.

Here is an example of what Software Engineers on NL will spend their valuable time on:

Implement a piece of online software suitable for use by a cinema. The system should be
capable of providing information about films currently showing, and of the availability
of seats in the cinema. The system should allow for seats to be booked either
individually or as a block. For example a block of 3 seats would require 3 adjacent
seats to be booked together.

Along with the front end ?

danielclerkson:

Along with the front end ?

Yeah with the front-end.

MindHacker9009:


Yeah with the front-end.

The main back end gra-gra is checking if a seat has been booked, because only js will do the info of movie (using an API) but you can also use js all through, just store the seating info on the local disc

danielclerkson:

The main back end gra-gra is checking if a seat has been booked, because only js will do the info of movie (using an API) but you can also use js all through, just store the seating info on the local disc

The main part is checking all the rows to see if 3 adjacent seats are available to be booked.

MindHacker9009:


The main part is checking all the rows to see if 3 adjacent seats are available to be booked.

The individuals data will be linked to a specific number or code. These codes have designated seats based on bookings. If the code has 3 consecutive seats, it is now a block. (a while loop will work)

Paystack:

Mad woman.

How much are you paying... you have gone to solve it with ChatGpt and it couldn't solve it for you after all your trials you yourself couldn't solve it.

I know you went to Google and get the answer somewhere then brought the question here to console yourself thinking everyone is dumb like you.

No one self should waste time trying to solve it for you as you just want to ridicule people and console yourself instead of learning.

Fork u!

Look at this one Such a pained soul, all these self taught people sef. Before I posted the problem, i know I'll find dumb devs who can not solve the simple problem but will use "how much" as an excuse to escape reality. You're dumb be say you're dumb, all these long talk no necessary.

MindHacker9009:


Software Engineers on NL will not waste their valuable time on such a tasks that lack commercial viability. Such tasks you posted are typically more suited for university mathematics students who are learning to apply programming to solve their mathematical exercises.

Here is an example of what Software Engineers on NL will spend their valuable time on:

Implement a piece of online software suitable for use by a cinema. The system should be
capable of providing information about films currently showing, and of the availability
of seats in the cinema. The system should allow for seats to be booked either
individually or as a block. For example a block of 3 seats would require 3 adjacent
seats to be booked together.

Bro please keep quiet, you always talk reason like what i don't know. You could not solve it be say you could not solve it, this is a leetcode style problem so you're telling me it's university students that should be doing leetcode? Okay when you get to your next interview and they give you leetcode style problem, tell them that one. You will not waste time to solve a simple problem that would not take more than 15 LOC to solve, but you have time to type all this gibberish? Ohh please I've always known you to shy away from anything that has to do with any form of critical thinking so I'm not surprised here. The other day i posted a simple math problem, na still this you gibbering you use as excuse.

For those that might be interested in how to think about the solution....

First of all you need to understand that this problem is not as mathematical as some might have thought, because I assumed that after reading the second paragraph some people who are not math inclined will lose hope, it's just pure implementation problem with very very little math, basically just addition and subtraction. I don't know what that MindHacker9009 guy is saying, university mathematics students Lolzz.. A child in jss1who knows how to code should be able to solve this with little effort.

You have to observe that the points that are part of the circle are always in a diamond shape and are symmetrical from the middle column.
All you have to do is to find the first appearance of '#' character because the first appearance will always be the on the same column as the center of the circle ( the row and column that it's found on) and to find the row that the center appears on, just count the number of '#' in the middle column, divide that count by 2 (to find the position of the middle) then add whatever you get to the row number that the first '#' was on.

Sorry if my explanation is hard to understand by here is my C++ solution to the problem, you can use chatgpt to convert to any language of your choice to understand it.

#include <vector>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
void paveway(){
    long long n , m; cin >> n >> m; long long ans = 0, cnt = 0;bool ant = false;
    vector<vector<char>> a(n , vector<char>(m));long long anc = 0;
    for(long long i = 0; i < n; i++){
        for(long long j = 0; j < m; j++){
            cin >> a[i][j];
            if(a[i][j] == '#' && ant == false){
                ans = j + 1 , anc = i + 1; ant = true; // This is where we find the row and column of the first ever '#'
            }
            if(a[i][j] == '#' && j == ans - 1) cnt += 1; // This keep's count of the number of '#' on the middle column
        }
    }
    cout << cnt/2 + anc << " " << ans << endl;
}
int main (){ 
	ios::sync_with_stdio(false); 
	cin.tie(nullptr);
	//long long t = 1;
	long long t; cin >> t;
	for( ;t--; )
	paveway();
return 0;
}