LLMs can't understand arrays (and neither can I)

[Tripredacus]

I started working on a project recently to do something I couldn't do for free. Basically a way to create a schedule for a league with constraints. I got past that part pretty easily and I am nearly satisfied with the result with two exceptions:
1. I want to be able to show the times the "player" appears in the first part of the sequence so that I can see how balanced the appearances are.
2. I want to be able to force the program to adhere to appearance constraints, where a "player" would appear in the first or second spot of a value either 4 or 5 times.

Since this is using a situation where there is an odd number of Rounds, it may well be impossible for it to actually generate a schedule with the constraints I have placed upon the program. That would be fine. My primary issue is that I lost a version where I did have the appearance counting working.

So here is the working code that generates 9 rounds of 12 player matchups. If we are to consider the output as being (Home, Away) then because I am using the random include, there are instances where a player is Home or away more than 5 times.

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#include <Array.au3>
#include <_ArrayRandom.au3>

Local $players[12]
$players[0] = "A1"
$players[1] = "A2"
$players[2] = "A3"
$players[3] = "A4"
$players[4] = "A5"
$players[5] = "A6"
$players[6] = "B1"
$players[7] = "B2"
$players[8] = "B3"
$players[9] = "B4"
$players[10] = "B5"
$players[11] = "B6"
Local $n = UBound($players)
Local $rounds[9][Int($n / 2)][2] ; Array for 9 rounds

; Constraints: Pairs that cannot both be first in any round
Local $constraints[6][2] = [ _
    ["A1", "A3"], _
    ["A2", "A4"], _
    ["A5", "B1"], _
    ["A6", "B2"], _
    ["B3", "B5"], _
    ["B4", "B6"] _
]

For $r = 0 To 8 ; Loop for 9 rounds
    Local $validRound = False
    Local $attempts = 0
    While Not $validRound And $attempts < 10000 ; Increase attempts to 10000
        $attempts += 1
        
        ; Shuffle players array instead of just shifting
        _ArrayRandom($players)
        
        For $i = 0 To Int($n / 2) - 1
            $rounds[$r][$i][0] = $players[$i]
            $rounds[$r][$i][1] = $players[$n - 1 - $i]
        Next
        
        ; Check if the current pairing violates any constraint
        $validRound = True
        For $i = 0 To UBound($constraints) - 1
            Local $count = 0
            For $j = 0 To UBound($rounds, 2) - 1
                If $rounds[$r][$j][0] = $constraints[$i][0] Or $rounds[$r][$j][0] = $constraints[$i][1] Then
                    $count += 1
                EndIf
            Next
            If $count > 1 Then ; If both elements of constraint are first in a pair
                $validRound = False
                ExitLoop
            EndIf
        Next
        
        If $validRound Then
            ExitLoop ; Exit if we have found a valid round
        EndIf
    Wend
    
    If Not $validRound Then
        ConsoleWrite("Failed to generate a valid round " & $r + 1 & " after 10000 attempts." & @CRLF)
    EndIf
Next

; Display the rounds if needed
For $r = 0 To UBound($rounds) - 1
    ConsoleWrite("Round " & $r + 1 & ": ")
    For $i = 0 To UBound($rounds, 2) - 1
        ConsoleWrite("(" & $rounds[$r][$i][0] & ", " & $rounds[$r][$i][1] & ") ")
    Next
    ConsoleWrite(@CRLF)
Next

Now yesterday I had set upon Grok to see how well it could handle AutoIT, and it did actually create code that displayed the player placement count. However, I've lost that instance and to make matter worse, Grok is not able to reproduce that work from yesterday. Whatever it tries to make now will always output NULLs, or invald info. And unfortunately I do not have the expertise on how to fix that problem, which was the entire reason why I pasted code onto Grok and Gemini yesterday.

From yesterday I have the work that the LLMs tried to do to add the following:
1. To restrict first place in the pairing appearances to 5
2. To show the round counting (which did work at some point)
Console outputs Nulls to the Rounds, and 0 to the player count in this version.

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#include <Array.au3>
#include <_ArrayRandom.au3>

Local $players[12]
$players[0] = "A1"
$players[1] = "A2"
$players[2] = "A3"
$players[3] = "A4"
$players[4] = "A5"
$players[5] = "A6"
$players[6] = "B1"
$players[7] = "B2"
$players[8] = "B3"
$players[9] = "B4"
$players[10] = "B5"
$players[11] = "B6"
Local $n = UBound($players)
Local $rounds[9][Int($n / 2)][2] ; Array for 9 rounds

; Initialize the $rounds array
For $r = 0 To 8
    For $i = 0 To Int($n / 2) - 1
        $rounds[$r][$i][0] = "" ; Initialize to empty string
        $rounds[$r][$i][1] = "" ; Initialize to empty string
    Next
Next

; Constraints: Pairs that cannot both be first in any round
Local $constraints[6][2] = [ _
    ["A1", "A3"], _
    ["A2", "A4"], _
    ["A5", "B1"], _
    ["A6", "B2"], _
    ["B3", "B5"], _
    ["B4", "B6"] _
]

; Array to track how many times each player has been in the first position
Local $firstCount[$n] = [0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]

; Function to find a valid pair for a player considering constraints and balance
Func FindValidPair($player, $tempPlayers, $constraints, $firstCount)
    Local $validPairs[1] = [""] ; Initialize with one empty element
    For $i = 0 To UBound($tempPlayers) - 1
        If $tempPlayers[$i] <> $player Then
            Local $valid = True
            For $j = 0 To UBound($constraints) - 1
                If ($player = $constraints[$j][0] And $tempPlayers[$i] = $constraints[$j][1]) Or ($player = $constraints[$j][1] And $tempPlayers[$i] = $constraints[$j][0]) Then
                    $valid = False
                    ExitLoop
                EndIf
            Next
            If $valid Then
                ; Check balance
                Local $playerIndex = _ArraySearch($players, $player)
                Local $pairIndex = _ArraySearch($players, $tempPlayers[$i])
                If ($firstCount[$playerIndex] < 5 And $firstCount[$pairIndex] < 5) Or ($firstCount[$playerIndex] > 4 And $firstCount[$pairIndex] > 4) Then
                    _ArrayAdd($validPairs, $tempPlayers[$i])
                EndIf
            EndIf
        EndIf
    Next
    If UBound($validPairs) > 1 Then ; Check if more than initial empty element
        Return $validPairs[Random(1, UBound($validPairs) - 1, 1)] ; Return a random valid pair, excluding the first empty element
    Else
        Return ""
    EndIf
EndFunc

For $r = 0 To 8 ; Loop for 9 rounds
    Local $validRound = False
    Local $attempts = 0
    
    While Not $validRound And $attempts < 10000 ; Increase attempts to 10000
        $attempts += 1
        
        ; Shuffle players array
        Local $tempPlayers = $players
        _ArrayRandom($tempPlayers)
        
        ; Attempt to build this round
        Local $usedPlayers[1] = [""] ; Initialize with one empty element
        Local $roundFirstPlayers[1] = [""] ; Array to track first players in *successful* pairs
        For $i = 0 To Int($n / 2) - 1
            Local $firstPlayer = ""
            For $p = 0 To UBound($tempPlayers) - 1
                If Not _ArraySearch($usedPlayers, $tempPlayers[$p]) Then
                    $firstPlayer = $tempPlayers[$p]
                    ExitLoop
                EndIf
            Next
            
            If $firstPlayer = "" Then ExitLoop ; No more players to use as first
            
            Local $secondPlayer = FindValidPair($firstPlayer, $tempPlayers, $constraints, $firstCount)
            If $secondPlayer = "" Then 
                ExitLoop ; Cant find valid pair, restart round
            EndIf
            
            $rounds[$r][$i][0] = $firstPlayer
            $rounds[$r][$i][1] = $secondPlayer
            _ArrayAdd($usedPlayers, $firstPlayer)
            _ArrayAdd($usedPlayers, $secondPlayer)
            _ArrayAdd($roundFirstPlayers, $firstPlayer) ; Add to the successful first players
            
            ; Update counts
            Local $firstIndex = _ArraySearch($players, $firstPlayer)
            $firstCount[$firstIndex] += 1
        Next
        
        If UBound($usedPlayers) = $n + 1 Then ; All players used, including the initial empty element
            $validRound = True
        Else
            ; Reset count for this round if invalid
          ; Only reset counts for *successful* first players
            For $i = 0 To UBound($roundFirstPlayers) - 1
                Local $index = _ArraySearch($players, $roundFirstPlayers[$i])
                If $index <> -1 Then
                    $firstCount[$index] -= 1
                EndIf
            Next
        EndIf
    Wend
    
    If Not $validRound Then
        ConsoleWrite("Failed to generate a valid round " & $r + 1 & " after 10000 attempts." & @CRLF)
    EndIf
Next

; Display the rounds if needed (This will now show empty strings if a pair isnt found)
For $r = 0 To UBound($rounds) - 1
    ConsoleWrite("Round " & $r + 1 & ": ")
    For $i = 0 To UBound($rounds, 2) - 1
        ConsoleWrite("(" & $rounds[$r][$i][0] & ", " & $rounds[$r][$i][1] & ") ")
    Next
    ConsoleWrite(@CRLF)
Next

; Display how many times each player was first for debugging
For $i = 0 To $n - 1
    ConsoleWrite($players[$i] & ": " & $firstCount[$i] & @CRLF)
Next

And this other version from today that DOES output valid rounds but the player counts are either a 9 or a 0.

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#include <Array.au3>
#include <_ArrayRandom.au3>

Local $players[12]
$players[0] = "A1"
$players[1] = "A2"
$players[2] = "A3"
$players[3] = "A4"
$players[4] = "A5"
$players[5] = "A6"
$players[6] = "B1"
$players[7] = "B2"
$players[8] = "B3"
$players[9] = "B4"
$players[10] = "B5"
$players[11] = "B6"
Local $n = UBound($players)
Local $rounds[9][Int($n / 2)][2] ; Array for 9 rounds

; Constraints: Pairs that cannot both be first in any round
Local $constraints[6][2] = [ _
    ["A1", "A3"], _
    ["A2", "A4"], _
    ["A5", "B1"], _
    ["A6", "B2"], _
    ["B3", "B5"], _
    ["B4", "B6"] _
]

; Array to track how many times each player has been in the first position
Local $firstCounts[$n] = [0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]

For $r = 0 To 8 ; Loop for 9 rounds
    Local $validRound = False
    Local $attempts = 0
    While Not $validRound And $attempts < 10000 ; Increase attempts to 10000
        $attempts += 1
        
        ; Shuffle players array instead of just shifting
        _ArrayRandom($players)
        
        For $i = 0 To Int($n / 2) - 1
            $rounds[$r][$i][0] = $players[$i]
            $rounds[$r][$i][1] = $players[$n - 1 - $i]
        Next
        
        ; Check if the current pairing violates any constraint
        $validRound = True
        For $i = 0 To UBound($constraints) - 1
            Local $count = 0
            For $j = 0 To UBound($rounds, 2) - 1
                If $rounds[$r][$j][0] = $constraints[$i][0] Or $rounds[$r][$j][0] = $constraints[$i][1] Then
                    $count += 1
                EndIf
            Next
            If $count > 1 Then ; If both elements of constraint are first in a pair
                $validRound = False
                ExitLoop
            EndIf
        Next
        
If $validRound Then
    ; Count occurrences of each player as first
    For $i = 0 To UBound($rounds, 2) - 1
        Local $player = $rounds[$r][$i][0]
        Local $playerIndex = _ArraySearch($players, $player)
        If $playerIndex <> -1 Then
            $firstCounts[$playerIndex] += 1
            ; Debug output to check count update
            ConsoleWrite("Round " & $r + 1 & ": Incrementing " & $player & " to " & $firstCounts[$playerIndex] & @CRLF)
        Else
            ConsoleWrite("ERROR: Player " & $player & " not found in players array." & @CRLF)
        EndIf
    Next
        ; Immediate display to check counts after each round
    ConsoleWrite("After Round " & $r + 1 & @CRLF)
    For $i = 0 To $n - 1
        ConsoleWrite($players[$i] & ": " & $firstCounts[$i] & @CRLF)
    Next
    ExitLoop ; Exit if weve found a valid round
EndIf
    Wend
    
    If Not $validRound Then
        ConsoleWrite("Failed to generate a valid round " & $r + 1 & " after 10000 attempts." & @CRLF)
    EndIf
Next

; Display the rounds if needed
For $r = 0 To UBound($rounds) - 1
    ConsoleWrite("Round " & $r + 1 & ": ")
    For $i = 0 To UBound($rounds, 2) - 1
        ConsoleWrite("(" & $rounds[$r][$i][0] & ", " & $rounds[$r][$i][1] & ") ")
    Next
    ConsoleWrite(@CRLF)
Next

; Display how many times each player was first
ConsoleWrite(@CRLF & "Player First Counts:" & @CRLF)
For $i = 0 To $n - 1
    ConsoleWrite($players[$i] & ": " & $firstCounts[$i] & @CRLF)
Next

So this post is for two purposes:

1. Can a real person instead of a chatbot help me resolve either the counting or balance issue?

2. Both Grok and Gemini have similar issues when dealing with arrays, are they making some common mistake? Do these (or other) LLMs make these kinds of mistakes with other programming or scripting languages?

[Nine]

So basically you ask a human to solve a machine issue asked by another human.  Instead of having this other human solves his own issue.  I do not think I will help you for now on (ever).

Edited February 14 by Nine

[Tripredacus]

You could have thought of it as a logical experiment. I figured out the answer later. Basically the error that the LLM makes is that it tries to do the counting at the wrong time. I was already able to create the array and the LLM wanted to try to do the counting during the creation of the array. Rather, it is solved by doing the counting after the array had all of the data in it.

[lIlIIlIllIIIIlI]

If you're gonna use ai for making programs, use chatgpt, grok is kind of bad and gemini is not as good. there are some other things that might be better like deepseek but you can use it for only like 10 prompts before their servers are overwhelmed and you have to wait hours. Chatgpt keeps your history so you can never "lose" a solution that it spits out for you.

[rudi]

And in addition to the suggestion for ChatGPT: Break down your project into small steps, when using ChatGPT. e.g. I need a array <your description of sturcture and purpose>

Then go on task by task. That way you get faaaar better results, than if you try to describe the whole story in one.

Edited February 27 by rudi