Repeat a string

Repeat a string
You are encouraged to solve this task according to the task description, using any language you may know.

Take a string and repeat it some number of times. Example: repeat("ha", 5) => "hahahahaha"

If there is a simpler/more efficient way to repeat a single “character” (i.e. creating a string filled with a certain character), you might want to show that as well (i.e. repeat-char("*", 5) => "*****").

4DOS Batch

gosub repeat ha 5
echo %@repeat[*,5]
quit
 
:Repeat [String Times]
    do %Times%
        echos %String%
    enddo
    echo.
return

Output shows:

hahahahaha
*****

ActionScript

ActionScript does not have a built-in way to repeat a string multiple times, but the addition operator can be used to concatenate strings.

In Flex, there is the method mx.utils.StringUtil.repeat().

Iterative version

function repeatString(string:String, numTimes:uint):String
{
	var output:String = "";
	for(var i:uint = 0; i < numTimes; i++)
		output += string;
	return output;
}

Recursive version

The following double-and-add method is much faster when repeating a string many times.

function repeatRecursive(string:String, numTimes:uint):String
{
	if(numTimes == 0) return "";
	if(numTimes & 1) return string + repeatRecursive(string, numTimes - 1);
	var tmp:String = repeatRecursive(string, numTimes/2);
	return tmp + tmp;
}

Flex

import mx.utils.StringUtil;
trace(StringUtil.repeat("ha", 5));
 

Sample Output:

hahahahaha

Ada

In Ada multiplication of an universal integer to string gives the desired result. Here is an example of use:

with Ada.Strings.Fixed;  use Ada.Strings.Fixed;
with Ada.Text_IO;        use Ada.Text_IO;
 
procedure String_Multiplication is
begin
   Put_Line (5 * "ha");
end String_Multiplication;

Sample output:

hahahahaha

ALGOL 68

print (5 * "ha")
 

AppleScript

set str to "ha"
set final_string to ""
repeat 5 times
     set final_string to final_string & str
end repeat

AutoHotkey

MsgBox % Repeat("ha",5)
 
Repeat(String,Times)
{
  Loop, %Times%
    Output .= String
  Return Output
}

AWK

function repeat( str, n,    rep, i )
{
    for( ; i<n; i++ )
        rep = rep str   
    return rep
}
 
BEGIN {
    print repeat( "ha", 5 )
}

Babel

main: { "ha" 5 print_repeat }
 
print_repeat!: { <- { dup << } -> times }

Outputs:

hahahahaha

The '<<' operator prints, 'dup' duplicates the top-of-stack, 'times' does something x number of times. The arrows mean down (<-) and up (->) respectively - it would require a lengthy description to explain what this means, refer to the doc/babel_ref.txt file in the github repo linked from Babel

Batch File

Commandline implementation

@echo off
if "%2" equ "" goto fail
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
set char=%1
set num=%2
for /l %%i in (1,1,%num%) do set res=!res!%char%
echo %res%
:fail

'Function' version

@echo off
set /p a=Enter string to repeat :
set /p b=Enter how many times to repeat :
set "c=1"
set "d=%b%"
:a
echo %a%
set "c=%c%+=1"
if /i _"%c%"==_"%d%" (exit /b)
goto :a

'Function' version 2

@echo off
@FOR /L %%i in (0,1,9) DO @CALL :REPEAT %%i
@echo That's it!
@FOR /L %%i in (0,1,9) DO @CALL :REPEAT %%i
@echo.
@echo And that!
@GOTO END
 
:REPEAT
@echo|set /p="*"
@GOTO:EOF
 
:END

BBC BASIC

      PRINT STRING$(5, "ha")

Bracmat

The code almost explains itself. The repetions are accumulated in a list rep. The str concatenates all elements into a single string, ignoring the white spaces separating the elements.

(repeat=
  string N rep
.   !arg:(?string.?N)
  & !string:?rep
  &   whl
    ' (!N+-1:>0:?N&!string !rep:?rep)
  & str$!rep
);

 repeat$(ha.5)
 hahahahaha

Brainf***

Prints "ha" 10 times. Note that this method only works for a number of repetitions that fit into the cell size.

+++++ +++++	init first as 10 counter
[-> +++++ +++++<] we add 10 to second each loopround
 
		Now we want to loop 5 times to follow std
+++++
[-> ++++ . ----- -- . +++<] print h and a each loop
 
and a newline because I'm kind and it looks good
+++++ +++++ +++ . --- .

Brat

p "ha" * 5  #Prints "hahahahaha"

Burlesque

 
blsq ) 'h5?*
"hhhhh"
blsq ) "ha"5.*\[
"hahahahaha"
 

C

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
 
char * string_repeat( int n, const char * s ) {
  size_t slen = strlen(s);
  char * dest = malloc(n*slen+1);
 
  int i; char * p;
  for ( i=0, p = dest; i < n; ++i, p += slen ) {
    memcpy(p, s, slen);
  }
  *p = '\0';
  return dest;
}
 
int main() {
  char * result = string_repeat(5, "ha")
  puts(result);
  free(result);
  return 0;
}

A variation.

...
char *string_repeat(const char *str, int n)
{
   char *pa, *pb;
   size_t slen = strlen(str);
   char *dest = malloc(n*slen+1);
 
   pa = dest + (n-1)*slen;
   strcpy(pa, str);
   pb = --pa + slen; 
   while (pa>=dest) *pa-- = *pb--;
   return dest;
}

To repeat a single character

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
 
char * char_repeat( int n, char c ) {
  char * dest = malloc(n+1);
  memset(dest, c, n);
  dest[n] = '\0';
  return dest;
}
 
int main() {
  char * result = char_repeat(5, '*');
  puts(result);
  free(result);
  return 0;
}

If you use GLib, simply use g_strnfill ( gsize length, gchar fill_char ) function.

C#

string s = "".PadLeft(5, 'X').Replace("X", "ha");

or (with .NET 2+)

string s = new String('X', 5).Replace("X", "ha");

or (with .NET 2+)

string s = String.Join("ha", new string[5 + 1]);

or (with .NET 4+)

string s = String.Concat(Enumerable.Repeat("ha", 5));

To repeat a single character:

string s = "".PadLeft(5, '*');

or (with .NET 2+)

string s = new String('*', 5);

C++

#include <string>
#include <iostream>
 
std::string repeat( const std::string &word, int times ) {
   std::string result ;
   result.reserve(times*word.length()); // avoid repeated reallocation
   for ( int a = 0 ; a < times ; a++ ) 
      result += word ;
   return result ;
}
 
int main( ) {
   std::cout << repeat( "Ha" , 5 ) << std::endl ;
   return 0 ;
}

To repeat a single character:

#include <string>
#include <iostream>
 
int main( ) {
   std::cout << std::string( 5, '*' ) << std::endl ;
   return 0 ;
}

Clojure

(apply str (repeat 5 "ha"))

Common Lisp

(defun repeat-string (n string)
  (with-output-to-string (stream)
    (loop repeat n do (write-string string stream))))
 
(princ (repeat-string 5 "hi"))

A single character may be repeated using just the builtin make-string:

(make-string 5 :initial-element #\X)

produces “XXXXX”.

D

Repeating a string:

import std.stdio, std.array;
 
void main() {
    writeln("ha".replicate(5));
}

Repeating a character with vector operations:

import std.stdio;
 
void main() {
    char[] chars;     // create the dynamic array
    chars.length = 5; // set the length
    chars[] = '*';    // set all characters in the string to '*'
    writeln(chars);
}

Delphi

Repeat a string

 
function RepeatString(const s: string; count: cardinal): string;
var
  i: Integer;
begin
  for i := 1 to count do
    Result := Result + s;
end;
 
Writeln(RepeatString('ha',5));
 

Repeat a character

 
Writeln( StringOfChar('a',5) );
 

Built in RTL function:

StrUtils.DupeString

DWScript

Repeat a string

 
PrintLn( StringOfString('abc',5) );
 

Repeat a character

 
PrintLn( StringOfChar('a',5) );
 

E

"ha" * 5

Erlang

repeat(X,N) ->
    lists:flatten(lists:duplicate(N,X)).

This will duplicate a string or character N times to produce a new string.

Euphoria

function repeat_string(object x, integer times)
    sequence out
    if atom(x) then
        return repeat(x,times)
    else
        out = ""
        for n = 1 to times do
            out &= x
        end for
        return out
    end if
end function
 
puts(1,repeat_string("ha",5) & '\n') -- hahahahaha
 
puts(1,repeat_string('*',5) & '\n') -- *****

Sample Output:

hahahahaha
*****

-- Here is an alternative method for "Repeat a string"
include std/sequence.e
printf(1,"Here is the repeated string: %s\n", {repeat_pattern("ha",5)})
printf(1,"Here is another: %s\n", {repeat_pattern("*",5)})
 

Sample Output:

Here is the repeated string: hahahahaha
Here is another: *****

F#

> String.replicate 5 "ha";;
val it : string = "hahahahaha"

Or

> String.Concat( Array.create 5 "ha" );;
val it : string = "hahahahaha"

Factor

: repeat-string ( str n -- str' ) swap <repetition> concat ;
 
"ha" 5 repeat-string print

Forth

: place-n { src len dest n -- }
  0 dest c!
  n 0 ?do src len dest +place loop ;
 
s" ha" pad 5 place-n
pad count type    \ hahahahaha

The same code without the use of locals:

 
: place-n ( src len dest n -- )
  swap >r 0 r@ c!
  begin dup while -rot 2dup r@ +place rot 1- repeat
  r> 2drop 2drop ;
 
s" ha" pad 5 place-n
pad count type    \ hahahahaha

Filling a string with a single character is supported by ANS-Forth:

pad 10 char * fill   \ repeat a single character
pad 10 type    \ **********

Fortran

Works with: Fortran version 90 and later

program test_repeat
 
  write (*, '(a)') repeat ('ha', 5)
 
end program test_repeat

Output:

hahahahaha

Frink

 
println[repeat["ha", 5]]
 

GAP

Concatenation(List([1 .. 10], n -> "BOB "));
# "BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB BOB "

Go

fmt.Println(strings.Repeat("ha", 5))        // ==> "hahahahaha"

There is no special way to repeat a single character, other than to convert the character to a string. The following works:

fmt.Println(strings.Repeat(string('h'), 5)) // prints hhhhh

Groovy

 println 'ha' * 5

Haskell

For a string of finite length:

concat $ replicate 5 "ha"

Or with list-monad (a bit obscure):

[1..5] >> "ha"

For an infinitely long string:

cycle "ha"

To repeat a single character:

replicate 5 '*'

HicEst

CHARACTER out*20
 
EDIT(Text=out, Insert="ha", DO=5)

Icon and Unicon

The procedure repl is a supplied function in Icon and Unicon.

procedure main(args)
    write(repl(integer(!args) | 5))
end

If it weren't, one way to write it is:

procedure repl(s, n)
    every (ns := "") ||:= |s\(0 <= n)
    return ns
end

Inform 7

Home is a room.
 
To decide which indexed text is (T - indexed text) repeated (N - number) times:
	let temp be indexed text;
	repeat with M running from 1 to N:
		let temp be "[temp][T]";
	decide on temp.
 
When play begins:
	say "ha" repeated 5 times;
	end the story.

J

   5 # '*'               NB. repeat each item 5 times
*****
   5 # 'ha'              NB. repeat each item 5 times
hhhhhaaaaa
   5 ((* #) $ ]) 'ha'    NB. repeat array 5 times
hahahahaha
   5 ;@# < 'ha'          NB. boxing is used to treat the array as a whole
hahahahaha

Java

Works with: Java version 1.5+

There's no method or operator to do this in Java, so you have to do it yourself.

public static String repeat(String str, int times){
   StringBuilder ret = new StringBuilder();
   for(int i = 0;i < times;i++) ret.append(str);
   return ret.toString();
}
 
public static void main(String[] args){
  System.out.println(repeat("ha", 5));
}

Or even shorter:

public static String repeat(String str, int times){
   return new String(new char[times]).replace("\0", str);
}

In Apache Commons Lang, there is a StringUtils.repeat() method.

JavaScript

This solution creates an empty array of length n+1, then uses the array's join method to effectively concatenate the string n times. Note that extending the prototype of built-in objects is not a good idea if the code is to run in a shared workspace.

String.prototype.repeat = function(n) {
    return new Array(1 + n).join(this);
}
 
alert("ha".repeat(5));  // hahahahaha

Julia

"ha"^5
'*'^5
#the (^) operator is really just call to the `repeat` function
repeat("ha",5)

K

 
  ,/5#,"ha"
"hahahahaha"
 
  5#"*"
"*****"
 

LabVIEW

I don't know if there is a built-in function for this, but it is easily achieved with a For loop and Concatenate Strings.

Liberty BASIC

a$ ="ha "
print StringRepeat$( a$, 5)
 
end
 
function StringRepeat$( in$, n)
    o$ =""
    for i =1 to n
        o$ =o$ +in$
    next i
    StringRepeat$ =o$
end function

Logo

to copies :n :thing [:acc "||]
  if :n = 0 [output :acc]
  output (copies :n-1 :thing combine :acc :thing)
end

or using cascade:

show cascade 5 [combine "ha ?] "||    ; hahahahaha

Lhogho doesn't have cascade (yet), nor does it have the initialise a missing parameter capability demonstrated by the [:acc "||] above.

to copies :n :thing :acc
  if :n = 0 [output :acc]
  output (copies :n-1 :thing combine :acc :thing)
end
 
print copies 5 "ha "||

Lua

function repeats(s, n) return n > 0 and s .. repeat(s, n-1) or "" end

Or use native string library function

string.rep(s,n)

Maple

There are many ways to do this in Maple. First, the "right" (most efficient) way is to use the supplied procedures for this purpose.

 
> use StringTools in
>       Repeat( "abc", 10 ); # repeat an arbitrary string
>       Fill( "x", 20 )      # repeat a character
> end use;
                    "abcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabc"
 
                         "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
 

These next two are essentially the same, but are less efficient (though still linear) because they create a sequence of 10 strings before concatenating them (with the built-in procedure cat) to form the result.

 
> cat( "abc" $ 10 );
                    "abcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabc"
 
> cat( seq( "abc", i = 1 .. 10 ) );
                    "abcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabc"
 

You can build up a string in a loop, but this is highly inefficient (quadratic); don't do this.

 
> s := "":
> to 10 do s := cat( s, "abc" ) end: s;
                    "abcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabc"
 

If you need to build up a string incrementally, use a StringBuffer object, which keeps things linear.

Finally, note that strings and characters are not distinct datatypes in Maple; a character is just a string of length one.

Mathematica

(* solution 1 *)
rep[n_Integer,s_String]:=Apply[StringJoin,ConstantArray[s,{n}]]
 
(* solution 2 -- @@ is the infix form of Apply[] *)
rep[n_Integer,s_String]:=StringJoin@@Table[s,{n}]
 
(* solution 3 -- demonstrating another of the large number of looping constructs available *)
rep[n_Integer,s_String]:=Nest[StringJoin[s, #] &,s,n-1]

MATLAB / Octave

function S = repeat(s , n)
    S = repmat(s , [1,n]) ;
return

Note 1: The repetition is returned, not displayed.
Note 2: To repeat a string, use single quotes. Example: S=repeat('ha',5)

Maxima

"$*"(s, n) := apply(sconcat, makelist(s, n))$
infix("$*")$
 
"abc" $* 5;
/* "abcabcabcabcabc" */

Mercury

Mercury's 'string' module provides an efficient char-repeater. The following uses string.builder to repeat strings.

:- module repeat.
:- interface.
:- import_module string, char, int.
 
:- func repeat_char(char, int) = string.
:- func repeat(string, int) = string.
 
:- implementation.
:- import_module stream, stream.string_writer, string.builder.
 
repeat_char(C, N) = string.duplicate_char(C, N).
 
repeat(String, Count) = Repeated :-
        S0 = string.builder.init,
        Repeated = string.builder.to_string(S),
        printn(string.builder.handle, Count, String, S0, S).
 
:- pred printn(Stream, int, string, State, State)
               <= (stream.writer(Stream, string, State),
                   stream.writer(Stream, character, State)).
:- mode printn(in, in, in, di, uo) is det.
printn(Stream, N, String, !S) :-
        ( N > 0 ->
                print(Stream, String, !S),
                printn(Stream, N - 1, String, !S)
        ; true ).

Mirah

x = StringBuilder.new
 
5.times do 
    x.append "ha"
end
 
puts x # ==> "hahahahaha"

MUMPS

RPTSTR(S,N)
 ;Repeat a string S for N times
 NEW I
 FOR I=1:1:N WRITE S
 KILL I
 QUIT
RPTSTR1(S,N) ;Functionally equivalent, but denser to read
 F I=1:1:N W S
 Q
 

This last example uses the $PIECE function.

 
 ;Even better (more terse)
 S x="",$P(x,"-",10)="-"
 W x
 

NetRexx

NetRexx has built in functions to manipulate strings. The most appropriate for this task is the copies() function:

/* NetRexx */
 
ha5 = 'ha'.copies(5)
 

There are several other built-in functions that can be used to achieve the same result depending on need:

/* NetRexx */
sampleStr = 'ha' -- string to duplicate
say '   COPIES:' sampleStr.copies(5)
say 'CHANGESTR:' '.....'.changestr('.', sampleStr)
 
sampleChr = '*' -- character to duplicate
say '     LEFT:' sampleChr.left(5, sampleChr)
say '    RIGHT:' sampleChr.right(5, sampleChr)
say '   CENTRE:' sampleChr.centre(5, sampleChr)
say '  OVERLAY:' sampleChr.overlay(sampleChr, 1, 5, sampleChr)
say '   SUBSTR:' ''.substr(1, 5, sampleChr)
say 'TRANSLATE:' '.....'.translate(sampleChr, '.')
 

NewLISP

(dup "ha" 5)

Objeck

bundle Default {
  class Repeat {
    function : Main(args : String[]) ~ Nil {
      Repeat("ha", 5)->PrintLine();
    }
 
    function : Repeat(string : String, max : Int) ~ String {
      repeat : String := String->New();
      for(i := 0; i < max; i += 1;) {
        repeat->Append(string);
      };
 
      return repeat;
    }
  }
}

Objective-C

Objective-C allows developers to extend existing an existing class by adding additional methods to the class without needing to subclass. These extensions are called categories. Category methods are available to all instances of the class, as well as any instances of its subclasses.

This task provides us with an opportunity to visit this aspect of the language feature.

We will extend NSString, the de facto Objective-C string class in environments that are either compatible with or descend directly from the OPENSTEP specification, such as GNUstep and Mac OS X, respectively, with a method that accomplishes the described task.

@interface NSString (RosettaCodeAddition)
- (NSString *) repeatStringByNumberOfTimes: (NSUInteger) times;
@end
 
@implementation NSString (RosettaCodeAddition)
- (NSString *) repeatStringByNumberOfTimes: (NSUInteger) times {
    return [@"" stringByPaddingToLength:[self length]*times withString:self startingAtIndex:0];
}
@end

Now, let's put it to use:

    // Instantiate an NSString by sending an NSString literal our new
    // -repeatByNumberOfTimes: selector.
    NSString *aString = [@"ha" repeatStringByNumberOfTimes:5];
 
    // Display the NSString.
    NSLog(@"%@", aString);

OCaml

let string_repeat s n =
  let len = String.length s in
  let res = String.create(n * len) in
  for i = 0 to pred n do
    String.blit s 0 res (i * len) len;
  done;
  (res)
;;

testing in the toplevel:

# string_repeat "Hiuoa" 3 ;;
- : string = "HiuoaHiuoaHiuoa"

Alternately:

let string_repeat s n =
  String.concat "" (Array.to_list (Array.make n s))
;;

Or:

let string_repeat s n =
  Array.fold_left (^) "" (Array.make n s)
;;

To repeat a single character:

String.make 5 '*'

OpenEdge/Progress

MESSAGE FILL( "ha", 5 ) VIEW-AS ALERT-BOX.

OxygenBasic

 
 
'REPEATING A CHARACTER
 
print string 10,"A" 'result AAAAAAAAAA
 
'REPEATING A STRING
 
function RepeatString(string s,sys n) as string
  sys i, le=len s
  if le=0 then exit function
  n*=le
  function=nuls n
  '
  for i=1 to n step le
    mid function,i,s
  next
end function
 
print RepeatString "ABC",3 'result ABCABCABC
 

Oz

We have to write a function for this:

declare
  fun {Repeat Xs N}
     if N > 0 then
        {Append Xs {Repeat Xs N-1}}
     else
        nil
     end
  end
in
  {System.showInfo {Repeat "Ha" 5}}

PARI/GP

This solution is unimaginably bad. Slightly less bad versions can be designed, but that's not the point: don't use GP for text processing if you can avoid it. If you really need to, it's easy to create an efficient function in PARI (see C) and pass that to GP.

repeat(s,n)={
  if(n, Str(repeat(s, n-1), s), "")
};

Pascal

See Delphi

Perl

"ha" x 5

Perl 6

"ha" x 5

(Note that the x operator isn't quite the same as in Perl 5: it now only creates strings. To create lists, use xx.)

PHP

str_repeat("ha", 5)

PicoLisp

(pack (need 5 "ha"))
-> "hahahahaha"

or:

(pack (make (do 5 (link "ha"))))
-> "hahahahaha"

Pike

"ha"*5;

PL/I

s = copy('ha', 5);
 
/* To repeat a single character a fixed number of times: */
 
s = (5)'h';     /* asigns 'hhhhh' to s. */
 

PostScript

% the comments show the stack content after the line was executed
% where rcount is the repeat count, "o" is for orignal,
% "f" is for final, and iter is the for loop variable
%
% usage: rcount ostring times -> fstring
 
/times {
  dup length dup    % rcount ostring olength olength
  4 3 roll          % ostring olength olength rcount
  mul dup string    % ostring olength flength fstring
  4 1 roll          % fstring ostring olength flength
  1 sub 0 3 1 roll  % fstring ostring 0 olength flength_minus_one 
  {                 % fstring ostring iter
    1 index 3 index % fstring ostring iter ostring fstring
    3 1 roll        % fstring ostring fstring iter ostring
    putinterval     % fstring ostring
  } for
  pop               % fstring
} def

PowerBASIC

MSGBOX REPEAT$(5, "ha")

PowerShell

"ha" * 5  # ==> "hahahahaha"

Prolog

%repeat(Str,Num,Res).
repeat(Str,1,Str).
repeat(Str,Num,Res):-
    Num1 is Num-1,
    repeat(Str,Num1,Res1),
    string_concat(Str, Res1, Res).

Pure

str_repeat is defined by pattern-matching: repeating any string 0 times results in the empty string; while repeating it more than 0 times results in the concatenation of the string and (n-1) further repeats.

> str_repeat 0 s = "";
> str_repeat n s = s + (str_repeat (n-1) s) if n>0;
> str_repeat 5 "ha";
"hahahahaha"
>

PureBasic

Procedure.s RepeatString(count, text$=" ")
   Protected i, ret$=""
 
   For i = 1 To count
      ret$ + text$
   Next
   ProcedureReturn ret$
EndProcedure
 
Debug RepeatString(5, "ha")

Python

"ha" * 5  # ==> "hahahahaha"

"Characters" are just strings of length one.

the other way also works:

5 * "ha"  # ==> "hahahahaha"

R

paste(rep("ha",5), collapse='')

Racket

 
#lang racket
;; fast
(define (string-repeat n str)
  (string-append* (make-list n str)))
(string-repeat 5 "ha") ; => "hahahahaha"
 

To repeat a single character:

 
(make-string 5 #\*) => "*****"
 

REALbasic

Function Repeat(s As String, count As Integer) As String
  Dim output As String
  For i As Integer = 0 To count
    output = output + s
  Next
  Return output
End Function
 

REBOL

head insert/dup "" "ha" 5

Retro

with strings'
: repeatString ( $n-$ )
  1- [ dup ] dip [ over prepend ] times nip ;
 
"ha" 5 repeatString

REXX

Since the REXX language only supports the "character" type, it's not surprising that there are so many ways to skin a cat.

/*REXX program to show various ways to repeat a string (or repeat a single char).*/
 
/*all examples are equivalent, but not created equal.*/
 
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y='ha'
z=copies(y,5)
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
z=copies( 'ha', 5 )
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y='ha'
z=y||y||y||y||y
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y='ha'
z=y || y || y || y || y    /*same as previous, but the "big sky" version*/
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y='ha'
z=''
       do 5
       z=z||y
       end
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y="ha"
z=
       do 5
       z=z||y
       end
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y="ha"
z=
       do i=101 to 105
       z=z||y
       end
 
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y='+'
z=left('',5,y)
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y='+'
z=right('',5,y)
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y='+'
z=substr('',1,5,y)
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y='+'
z=center('',5,y)
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y='+'
z=centre('',5,y)
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y='+'
z=space('',5,y)
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y='+'
z=translate('@@@@@',y,"@")
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y='abcdef'
z=five(y)
exit
 
five: procedure expose y; parse arg g
if length(g)>=5*length(y) then return g
return five(y||g)
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y='something wicked this way comes.'
z=y||y||y||y||y||y||y||y||y||y||y||y|\y||y||y
z=left(z,5*length(y))
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y='+'
z=copies('',5,y)
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y='+'
z=lower('',1,5,y)
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y='+'
z=lower('',,5,y)
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
z='+'
z=upper('',1,5,y)
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
z=upper('',,5,y)
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
 
y='charter bus.'
z='*****'
z=changestr('*',z,y)
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y='what the hey!'
z=
  do until length(z)==5*length(y)
  z=z||y
  end
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y='what the hey!'
z=
  do until length(z)==5*length(y)
  z=insert(z,0,y)
  end
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y='yippie ki yay'
z=
   do i=1 by 5 for 5
   z=overlay(y,z,i)
   end
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y='+'
z=justify('',5,y)
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
whatever_this_variable_is_____it_aint_referenced_directly= 'boy oh boy.'
z=; signal me; me:
  do 5
  z=z||strip(subword(sourceline(sigl-1),2),,"'")
  end
                           /*───────────────────────────────────────────*/
y="any more examples & the angry townfolk with pitchforks will burn the castle."
parse value y||y||y||y||y with z
 
exit                                   /*stick a fork in it, we're done.*/

Some older REXXes don't have a changestr bif, so one is included here ──► CHANGESTR.REX.

Ruby

"ha" * 5  # ==> "hahahahaha"

Despite the use of the * operator, the operation is not commutative:

5 * "ha"  # TypeError: String can't be coerced into Fixnum

Run BASIC

a$ = "ha "
for i = 1 to 5
  a1$ = a1$ + a$
next i
a$ = a1$
print a$

Scala

"ha" * 5 // ==> "hahahahaha"

Scheme

(define (string-repeat n str)
  (apply string-append (vector->list (make-vector n str))))

with SRFI 1:

(define (string-repeat n str)
	(fold string-append "" (make-list n str)))
(string-repeat 5 "ha") ==> "hahahahaha"

To repeat a single character:

(make-string 5 #\*)

Scratch

This example requires making variables named "String", "Count", and "Repeated" first.

sed

Number of ampersands indicates number of repetitions.

 
$ echo ha | sed 's/.*/&&&&&/'
hahahahaha
 

Seed7

$ include "seed7_05.s7i";
 
const proc: main is func
  begin
    writeln("ha" mult 5);
  end func;

Output:

hahahahaha

Smalltalk

If n is a small constant, then simply concatenating n times will do; for example, n=5::

v := 'ha'.
v,v,v,v,v

Works with: Pharo version 1.4

Works with: Smalltalk/X

By creating a collection of n 'ha', and joining them to a string:

((1 to: n) collect: [:x | 'ha']) joinUsing: ''.

or:

Works with: Smalltalk/X

Works with: VisualWorks Smalltalk

(Array new:n withAll:'ha') asStringWith:''.

By creating a WriteStream, and putting N times the string 'ha' into it:

ws := '' writeStream.
n timesRepeat: [ws nextPutAll: 'ha'].
ws contents.

alternatively:

(String streamContents:[:ws | n timesRepeat: [ws nextPutAll: 'ha']])

all evaluate to:

hahahahaha

A string containing a repeated character is generated with:

String new:n withAll:$*

SNOBOL4

	output = dupl("ha",5)
end

SQL

SELECT rpad('', 10, 'ha')

Standard ML

fun string_repeat (s, n) =
  concat (List.tabulate (n, fn _ => s))
;

testing in the interpreter:

- string_repeat ("Hiuoa", 3) ;
val it = "HiuoaHiuoaHiuoa" : string

To repeat a single character:

fun char_repeat (c, n) =
  implode (List.tabulate (n, fn _ => c))
;

Suneido

'ha'.Repeat(5)  -->  "hahahahaha"
'*'.Repeat(5)  -->  "*****"

Tcl

string repeat "ha" 5  ;# => hahahahaha

TUSCRIPT

 
$$ MODE TUSCRIPT
repeatstring=REPEAT ("ha",5)
 

TorqueScript

--Eepos

function strRep(%str,%int)
{
	for(%i = 0; %i < %int; %i++)
	{
		%rstr = %rstr@%str;
	}
 
	return %rstr;
}

UNIX Shell

Using printf

Works with: bash

Works with: ksh93

Works with: zsh

printf "ha"%.0s {1..5}

With ksh93 and zsh, the count can vary.

Works with: ksh93

Works with: zsh

i=5
printf "ha"%.0s {1..$i}

With bash, {1..$i} fails, because brace expansion happens before variable substitution. The fix uses eval.

Works with: bash

Works with: ksh93

Works with: zsh

i=5
eval "printf 'ha'%.0s {1..$i}"

For the general case, one must escape any % or \ characters in the string, because printf would interpret those characters.

Works with: bash

Works with: ksh93

Works with: zsh

reprint() {
  typeset e="$(sed -e 's,%,%%,g' -e 's,\\,\\\\,g' <<<"$1")"
  eval 'printf "$e"%.0s '"{1..$2}"
}
reprint '%  ha  \' 5

Using head -c

head -c is a GNU extension, so it only works with those systems. (Also, this script can only repeat a single character.)

Works with: Bourne Shell

width=72; char='='
head -c ${width} < /dev/zero | tr '\0' "$char"

Ursala

#import nat
 
repeat = ^|DlSL/~& iota
 
#cast %s
 
example = repeat('ha',5)

output:

'hahahahaha'

Vala

Repeat a string 5 times:

 
string s = "ha";
string copy = "";
for (int x = 0; x < 5; x++)
	copy += s;
 

Fill a string with a char N times:

 
string s = string.nfill(5, 'c');
 

VBA

 
Public Function RepeatStr(aString As String, aNumber As Integer) As String
Dim bString As String
 
bString = aString
If aNumber > 1 Then
  For i = 2 To aNumber
    bString = bString & aString
  Next i
End If
RepeatStr = bString
End Function
 

Sample output:

print RepeatSTr( "Hello world!", 3)
Hello world!Hello world!Hello world!

Note: unlike Visual Basic .NET, "String(5, "ha") in VBA produces "hhhhh" (only the first character is repeated)!

Vedit macro language

Ins_Text("ha", COUNT, 5) 

Visual Basic .NET

Use the PadLeft & PadRight commands:

FileContents = "X".PadRight(FileSizeBytes - 1, "X")
 
Where:
 
* FileContents  is the string to populate
* FileSizeBytes is the number of repetitions (Remember that "-1" is valid as we have already specified the first character as being "X", which is to be padded on.
 

This produces:

"XXXXXXXXXX...........XXXXXXXXX"

XPL0

cod T=12; int I; for I gets 1,5 do T(0,"ha")

Output:

hahahahaha

Yorick

array("ha", 5)(sum)