How do you write a c plus plus program to print a hollow square of a given size using asterisks and blanks?

Answer 1

void draw_box (const unsigned size)

{

if (!size) return; // size must be non-zero!

const char star {'*'}; // asterisk

const char nl {'\n'}; // newline

if (size==1)

{

// a box of size 1 is just a single asterisk

std::cout << star << nl;

return;

}

// else if (1 < size) ...

// the top and bottom lines are the same

const std::string line (size, star);

// hollow line (spaces)

const std::string hollow (size-2, ' ');

// draw the top line

std::cout << line << nl;

// draw the middle lines (if size>2)

for (unsigned i=2; i<size; ++i)

std::cout << star << hollow << star << nl;

// draw the bottom line

std::cout << line << nl;

}