Spiral Number with Diagonal Stars

This program prints a spiral of numbers with stars along diagonals.

Problem Statement

Write a Java program that prints a 7x7 spiral of numbers with stars placed on both diagonals.

Source Code

1 public class SpiralNumberDiagonalStars {
2 public static void main(String[] args) {
3 int n = 7;
4 int[][] arr = new int[n][n];
5 int top=0, left=0, bottom=n-1, right=n-1, num=1;
6 while(top<=bottom && left<=right) {
7 for(int i=left; i<=right; i++) arr[top][i]=num++;
8 top++;
9 for(int i=top; i<=bottom; i++) arr[i][right]=num++;
10 right--;
11 for(int i=right; i>=left; i--) arr[bottom][i]=num++;
12 bottom--;
13 for(int i=bottom; i>=top; i--) arr[i][left]=num++;
14 left++;
15 }
16 for(int i=0; i<n; i++) {
17 for(int j=0; j<n; j++) {
18 if(i==j || i+j==n-1) System.out.print("*\t");
19 else System.out.print(arr[i][j] + "\t");
20 }
21 System.out.println();
22 }
23 }
24 }

Program Output

*   2   3   4   5   6   *   
8   *   10  11  12  *   14  
15  16  *   18  *   20  21  
22  23  24  *   26  27  28  
29  30  *   32  *   34  35  
36  *   38  39  40  *   42  
*   44  45  46  47  48  *   

Explanation

After the spiral matrix of numbers is generated, the printing step checks the diagonal condition i==j || i+j==n-1 and replaces those positions with stars, overlaying a diagonal cross pattern on the spiral.

Quick Links to Explore