851 words
4 minutes
CS50 Problem Set 5
2026-03-18

CS50 Problem Set 5#

Here’s my answer for the CS50 Problem Set 5. Hope that will help you a bit.

Problem 1: Inheritance#

inheritance.c
// Simulate genetic inheritance of blood type
#define _DEFAULT_SOURCE
#include <stdbool.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <time.h>
// Each person has two parents and two alleles
typedef struct person
{
struct person *parents[2];
char alleles[2];
} person;
const int GENERATIONS = 3;
const int INDENT_LENGTH = 4;
person *create_family(int generations);
void print_family(person *p, int generation);
void free_family(person *p);
char random_allele();
int main(void)
{
// Seed random number generator
srandom(time(0));
// Create a new family with three generations
person *p = create_family(GENERATIONS);
// Print family tree of blood types
print_family(p, 0);
// Free memory
free_family(p);
}
// Create a new individual with `generations`
person *create_family(int generations)
{
// TODO: Allocate memory for new person
person *p = malloc(sizeof(person));
// If there are still generations left to create
if (generations > 1)
{
// Create two new parents for current person by recursively calling create_family
person *parent0 = create_family(generations - 1);
person *parent1 = create_family(generations - 1);
// TODO: Set parent pointers for current person
p->parents[0] = parent0;
p->parents[1] = parent1;
// TODO: Randomly assign current person's alleles based on the alleles of their parents
p->alleles[0] = parent0->alleles[random() % 2];
p->alleles[1] = parent1->alleles[random() % 2];
}
// If there are no generations left to create
else
{
// TODO: Set parent pointers to NULL
p->parents[0] = NULL;
p->parents[1] = NULL;
// TODO: Randomly assign alleles
p->alleles[0] = random_allele();
p->alleles[1] = random_allele();
}
// TODO: Return newly created person
return p;
return NULL;
}
// Free `p` and all ancestors of `p`.
void free_family(person *p)
{
// TODO: Handle base case
if (p == NULL)
{
return;
}
// TODO: Free parents recursively
free_family(p->parents[0]);
free_family(p->parents[1]);
// TODO: Free child
free(p);
}
// Print each family member and their alleles.
void print_family(person *p, int generation)
{
// Handle base case
if (p == NULL)
{
return;
}
// Print indentation
for (int i = 0; i < generation * INDENT_LENGTH; i++)
{
printf(" ");
}
// Print person
if (generation == 0)
{
printf("Child (Generation %i): blood type %c%c\n", generation, p->alleles[0],
p->alleles[1]);
}
else if (generation == 1)
{
printf("Parent (Generation %i): blood type %c%c\n", generation, p->alleles[0],
p->alleles[1]);
}
else
{
for (int i = 0; i < generation - 2; i++)
{
printf("Great-");
}
printf("Grandparent (Generation %i): blood type %c%c\n", generation, p->alleles[0],
p->alleles[1]);
}
// Print parents of current generation
print_family(p->parents[0], generation + 1);
print_family(p->parents[1], generation + 1);
}
// Randomly chooses a blood type allele.
char random_allele()
{
int r = random() % 3;
if (r == 0)
{
return 'A';
}
else if (r == 1)
{
return 'B';
}
else
{
return 'O';
}
}

Problem 2: Speller#

speller.c
// Implements a dictionary's functionality
#include <ctype.h>
#include <stdbool.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <strings.h>
#include "dictionary.h"
// Represents a node in a hash table
typedef struct node
{
char word[LENGTH + 1];
struct node *next;
} node;
int word_counter = 0;
// TODO: Choose number of buckets in hash table
const unsigned int N = 26;
// Hash table
node *table[N];
// Returns true if word is in dictionary, else false
bool check(const char *word)
{
// TODO
// Hash the word to obtain its hash value
int hash_value = hash(word);
// Search the hash table at the location specified by the word’s hash value
// Return "true" if the word is found
node *cursor = table[hash_value];
while (cursor != NULL)
{
if (strcasecmp(cursor->word, word) == 0)
{
return true;
}
else
{
cursor = cursor->next;
}
}
return false;
}
// Hashes word to a number
unsigned int hash(const char *word)
{
// TODO: Improve this hash function
return toupper(word[0]) - 'A';
}
// Loads dictionary into memory, returning true if successful, else false
bool load(const char *dictionary)
{
// TODO
// Make sure there is no garbage values
for (int i = 0; i < N; i++)
{
table[i] = NULL;
}
// Open the dictionary file
FILE *dict = fopen(dictionary, "r");
if (dict == NULL)
{
printf("The dictinary does not exist.\n");
return false;
}
// Read strings from file one at a time
char temp_word[LENGTH];
while (fscanf(dict, "%s", temp_word) != EOF)
{
// Create space for a new hash table node
node *new_word = malloc(sizeof(node));
// Copy the word into the new node
strcpy(new_word->word, temp_word);
// Hash the word to obtain its hash value
int hash_value = hash(temp_word);
// Insert the new node into the hash table (using the index specified by its hash value)
new_word->next = table[hash_value];
table[hash_value] = new_word;
word_counter += 1;
}
// close the dictinary file
fclose(dict);
return true;
}
// Returns number of words in dictionary if loaded, else 0 if not yet loaded
unsigned int size(void)
{
// TODO
return word_counter;
}
// Unloads dictionary from memory, returning true if successful, else false
bool unload(void)
{
// TODO
for (int i = 0; i < N; i++)
{
node *tmp = table[i];
node *cursor = table[i];
while (cursor != NULL)
{
cursor = cursor->next;
free(tmp);
tmp = cursor;
}
}
return true;
}
CS50 Problem Set 5
https://tech.kinghua0629.com/posts/cs50-problem-set-5/
Author
Ziwen Hua
Published at
2026-03-18
License
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0