C Program to Print Hourglass Pattern

The Hourglass Pattern is a symmetrical pattern similar to an hourglass shape. It can be visualized as an inverted full pyramid placed on a regular full pyramid. In this article, we will learn how to print the Hourglass Pattern using a C program.

Program to Print Hourglass Pattern in C

Output

* * * * * * * * * | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | A B C D E F G H I
 * * * * * * * | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | A B C D E F G
 * * * * * | 1 2 3 4 5 | A B C D E
 * * * | 1 2 3 | A B C 
 * | 1 | A
 * * * | 1 2 3 | A B C
 * * * * * | 1 2 3 4 5 | A B C D E
 * * * * * * * | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | A B C D E F G
* * * * * * * * * | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | A B C D E F G H I

Explanation:

• The outer loop runs for 2 * n - 1 iterations for printing each row of the pattern.
  • For rows i < n, it processes the top half (inverted pyramid).
  • For rows i >= n, it processes the bottom half (regular pyramid).
• The l variable determines the relative position of the current row from the top or bottom center:
  • Top half: l = i.
  • Bottom half: l = 2 * n - 2 - i.
• The first inner loop prints the number of leading spaces.
• The second inner loop prints the stars (or numbers/alphabet).