The hidden picture is a tree!
The picture as Python
Here is the same picture stored as numbers in a Python list. The program reads each number and prints a symbol for it, so you can see the picture appear in the Python shell.
picture = [
"00011000",
"00111100",
"01111110",
"00111100",
"01111110",
"11111111",
"00022000",
"00022000",
"00222200",
]
symbols = " #@"
for row in picture:
line = ""
for number in row:
line = line + symbols[int(number)]
print(line)When you run it, it prints:
## #### ###### #### ###### ######## @@ @@ @@@@
Squashing the picture smaller
Computers often save space with a trick called run-length encoding. Instead of storing every pixel, they count how many of the same colour are in a row. Here’s this picture written that way:
Show the run-length code
- Row 1: 3 × white, 2 × green, 3 × white
- Row 2: 2 × white, 4 × green, 2 × white
- Row 3: 1 × white, 6 × green, 1 × white
- Row 4: 2 × white, 4 × green, 2 × white
- Row 5: 1 × white, 6 × green, 1 × white
- Row 6: 8 × green
- Row 7: 3 × white, 2 × brown, 3 × white
- Row 8: 3 × white, 2 × brown, 3 × white
- Row 9: 2 × white, 4 × brown, 2 × white