Zig-zag scan an N x N array

Question

I have a simple array. The array length always has a square root of an integer. So 16, 25, 36 etc.

$array = array(\'1\', \'2\', \'3\', \'4\' ... \'25\');
         


        

Answer 1

With a single loop and taking advantage of the simetry and with no sorts:

function waveSort(array $array) {
    $n2=count($array);
    $n=sqrt($n2);
    if((int)$n != $n) throw new InvalidArgumentException();

    $x=0; $y=0; $dir = -1;

    $Result = array_fill(0, $n2, null);
    for ($i=0; $i < $n2/2; $i++) {

        $p=$y * $n +$x;

        $Result[$i]=$array[$p];
        $Result[$n2-1-$i]=$array[$n2-1-$p];

        if (($dir==1)&&($y==0)) {
            $x++;
            $dir *= -1;
        } else if (($dir==-1)&&($x==0)) {
            $y++;
            $dir *= -1;
        } else {
            $x += $dir;
            $y -= $dir;
        }
    }

    return $Result;
}

$a = range(1,25);
var_dump(waveSort($a));