# For Loop with Text Array

**URL:** <https://discourse.processing.org/t/for-loop-with-text-array/787>\
**Category:** Coding Questions\
**Created:** [June 7, 2018, 10:12pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/for-loop-with-text-array/787 "2018-06-07T22:12:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![deanomite](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/deanomite/32/159_2.png) [@deanomite](https://discourse.processing.org/u/deanomite)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 10:12pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/for-loop-with-text-array/787/1 "2018-06-07T22:12:25Z")

</div>

Hi there,

Am having some trouble figuring this exercise out. It’s a basic grid of text but I want the letters spread out across the rows and columns.

Right now all text from the array appears one on top of each other and not staggered as intended.

Here is the code. Would be really nice if someone could point me in the right direction. Been struggling since a few hours now. Thanks!

```auto
String[] myLetters = {"W", "0", "R", "D", "S"};

void setup() {
  size(800, 800);
  background(0);
  smooth();
}

void draw() {
  background(0);
  pushMatrix();
  translate(40, 40); //adjust position
  for (int k = 0; k < myLetters.length; ++k) {
    for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
      for (int j = 0; j < 10; j++) {        
        if ((i+j)%2==0) {
          fill(255, 0, 0);
        } else {
          fill(0);//fills black over alternating text
        }
        textSize(50);
        textAlign(CENTER, CENTER);
        text(myLetters[k], i*80, j*80);//what am i doing wrong over here??
      }
    }
  }
  popMatrix();
}

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kevin](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/kevin/32/2297_2.png) [@Kevin](https://discourse.processing.org/u/Kevin)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 10:17pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/for-loop-with-text-array/787/2 "2018-06-07T22:17:00Z")

</div>

Think about what these `for` loops are doing:

```auto
for (int k = 0; k < myLetters.length; ++k) {
    for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
      for (int j = 0; j < 10; j++) {        

```

You’re looping over every letter in your array, and then looping over every cell in your grid. In other words, you’re drawing every letter inside every cell.

My guess is you probably want to get rid of that first `for` loop, and calculate `k` based on the values of `i` and `j` for every cell instead.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![deanomite](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/deanomite/32/159_2.png) [@deanomite](https://discourse.processing.org/u/deanomite)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 10:25pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/for-loop-with-text-array/787/3 "2018-06-07T22:25:48Z")

</div>

Trying this out as well but to no effect.  
I think I’m now setting the cells up first and then drawing the letters to the various cells.  
But, the issue persists of the letters not spreading out.

```auto
String[] myLetters = {"W", "0", "R", "D", "S"};

void setup() {
  size(800, 800);
  background(0);
  smooth();
}

void draw() {
  background(0);
  pushMatrix();
  translate(40, 40); //adjust position
  for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
    for (int j = 0; j < 10; j++) {        
      if ((i+j)%2==0) {
        fill(255, 0, 0);
      } else {
        fill(0);//fills black over alternating text
      }
      for (int k = 0; k < myLetters.length; ++k) {
        textSize(50);
        textAlign(CENTER, CENTER);
        text(myLetters[k], i*80, j*80);//what am i doing wrong over here??
      }
    }
  }
  popMatrix();
}

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kevin](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/kevin/32/2297_2.png) [@Kevin](https://discourse.processing.org/u/Kevin)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 10:28pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/for-loop-with-text-array/787/4 "2018-06-07T22:28:15Z")

</div>

I don’t think you want to move the `for (int k = 0; k < myLetters.length; ++k) {` line to be inside your other `for` loops. I think you want to get rid of it entirely.

Take a step back and think about how you’d do this without a computer. For a given position `i,j`, how do you know which letter to draw?