SICP Exercise 1.3 request for comments

Question

I\'m trying to learn scheme via SICP. Exercise 1.3 reads as follow: Define a procedure that takes three numbers as arguments and returns the sum of the squares of the two la

Answer 1

(define (sum-sqr x y)
(+ (square x) (square y)))

(define (sum-squares-2-of-3 x y z)
    (cond ((and (<= x y) (<= x z)) (sum-sqr y z))
             ((and (<= y x) (<= y z)) (sum-sqr x z))
             ((and (<= z x) (<= z y)) (sum-sqr x y))))

Answer 2

You can also sort the list and add the squares of the first and second element of the sorted list:

(require (lib "list.ss")) ;; I use PLT Scheme

(define (exercise-1-3 a b c)
  (let* [(sorted-list (sort (list a b c) >))
         (x (first sorted-list))
         (y (second sorted-list))]
    (+ (* x x) (* y y))))

Answer 3

(define (sum a b) (+ a b))
(define (square a) (* a a))
(define (greater a b ) 
  ( if (< a b) b a))
(define (smaller a b ) 
  ( if (< a b) a b))
(define (sumOfSquare a b)
    (sum (square a) (square b)))
(define (sumOfSquareOfGreaterNumbers a b c)
  (sumOfSquare (greater a b) (greater (smaller a b) c)))

Answer 4

Below is the solution that I came up with. I find it easier to reason about a solution when the code is decomposed into small functions.

            ; Exercise 1.3
(define (sum-square-largest a b c)
  (+ (square (greatest a b))
     (square (greatest (least a b) c))))

(define (greatest a b)
  (cond (( > a b) a)
    (( < a b) b)))

(define (least a b)
  (cond ((> a b) b)
    ((< a b) a)))

(define (square a)
  (* a a))

Answer 5

Here's yet another way to do it:

#!/usr/bin/env mzscheme
#lang scheme/load

(module ex-1.3 scheme/base
  (define (ex-1.3 a b c)
    (let* ((square (lambda (x) (* x x)))
           (p (lambda (a b c) (+ (square a) (square (if (> b c) b c))))))
      (if (> a b) (p a b c) (p b a c))))

  (require scheme/contract)
  (provide/contract [ex-1.3 (-> number? number? number? number?)]))

;; tests
(module ex-1.3/test scheme/base
  (require (planet "test.ss" ("schematics" "schemeunit.plt" 2))
           (planet "text-ui.ss" ("schematics" "schemeunit.plt" 2)))
  (require 'ex-1.3)

  (test/text-ui
   (test-suite
    "ex-1.3"
    (test-equal? "1 2 3" (ex-1.3 1 2 3) 13)
    (test-equal? "2 1 3" (ex-1.3 2 1 3) 13)
    (test-equal? "2 1. 3.5" (ex-1.3 2 1. 3.5) 16.25)
    (test-equal? "-2 -10. 3.5" (ex-1.3 -2 -10. 3.5) 16.25)
    (test-exn "2+1i 0 0" exn:fail:contract? (lambda () (ex-1.3 2+1i 0 0)))
    (test-equal? "all equal" (ex-1.3 3 3 3) 18))))

(require 'ex-1.3/test)

Example:

$ mzscheme ex-1.3.ss
6 success(es) 0 failure(s) 0 error(s) 6 test(s) run
0

Answer 6

It's nice to see how other people have solved this problem. This was my solution:

(define (isGreater? x y z)
(if (and (> x z) (> y z))
(+ (square x) (square y))
0))

(define (sumLarger x y z)
(if (= (isGreater? x y z) 0)   
(sumLarger y z x)
(isGreater? x y z)))

I solved it by iteration, but I like ashitaka's and the (+ (square (max x y)) (square (max (min x y) z))) solutions better, since in my version, if z is the smallest number, isGreater? is called twice, creating an unnecessarily slow and circuitous procedure.