Viral Math Problems: 6 / 2 * (1 + 2)

#javascript #go #python #deno

Viral Math Problems: 6 / 2 * (1 + 2)

How do computers solve - 6 / 2 * (1 + 2) ?

The answer is 9.

Code & Repo for current solutions

C answer - 9

code:

#include "stdio.h"

int main() {
    int a = 6 / 2 * ( 1 + 2);
    printf("C answer - %d\n", a);

    return 0;
}

Golang answer - 9

code:

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    a := 6 / 2 * (1 + 2)

    fmt.Printf("Golang answer - %d\n", a)
}

Node.JS answer - 9

code:

const a = 6 / 2 * (1 + 2)
console.log(`Node.JS answer - ${a}`)

Deno answer - 9

code:

const a = 6 / 2 * (1 + 2)
console.log(`Deno answer - ${a}`)

Python2 answer - 9

code:

a = 6 / 2 * ( 1 + 2)

print("Python2 answer - " + str(a))

Python3 answer - 9.0

code:

a = 6 / 2 * ( 1 + 2 )

print("Python3 answer - " + str(a))

Ruby answer - 9

code:

a = 6 / 2 * (1 + 2)

puts "Ruby answer - #{a}"

Top comments (5)

Ranieri Althoff • Apr 20 '21

I don't see the point of this. The whole problem was with the interpretation of A / B (C), if one should prioritize (B*C) or not. The way you wrote it, there was never any doubt that the result is 9.

Tony • Apr 20 '21 • Edited

I understand where you are coming from, but at the same time I am expressing that there is no interpretation of that priority.

Based on the order of operations, once we have the 6 / 2 (3), this translates to 6 / 2 * 3 (removing the parens), and thus the Order of Operations states we evaluate left to right. Within those rules, there is only 1 correct interpretation.

So I just googled to better understand my reasoning and came across this video with a good explaination. It talks about the historical references to treating the division symbol as 6 / ( 2 * 3) as some people are evaluating. But that interpretation is historical and stems off a different way of evaluation not common today (or at least the video states).