Rotating Number Pattern in C

Beginner
⏱️ 6 min read
📚 Updated: Aug 2025
🎯 2 Code Examples
Nested Loops
Rotating number pattern output (12345, 23451, 34512, 45123, 51234) in C programming

What You’ll Learn

How to print a rotating number pattern (circular shift) in C. Each row starts from i, prints up to rows, then wraps around to print 1 up to i-1.

⭐ Pattern Output

For rows = 5, the pattern looks like this:

Output
12345
23451
34512
45123
51234
1

Complete C Program

Use two loops per row: first print i..rows, then print 1..i-1 to wrap around.

c
#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    int rows = 5;
    int i, j;

    for (i = 1; i <= rows; ++i) {
        for (j = i; j <= rows; ++j) {
            printf("%d", j);
        }
        for (j = 1; j < i; ++j) {
            printf("%d", j);
        }
        printf("\n");
    }

    return 0;
}

🧠 How It Works

1

Pick the row count

int rows = 5; sets the range 1..rows.

Setup
2

Outer loop picks the start

i is the starting number for each row: 1, 2, 3, ...

Row start
3

Print i..rows

for (j = i; j <= rows; ++j) prints the tail of the sequence.

Main part
4

Wrap around: print 1..i-1

for (j = 1; j < i; ++j) prints the remaining prefix to complete the rotation.

Wrap
=

Circular shift output

Each row prints exactly rows digits, so the time complexity is O(n²) for n rows.

2

Variation — User Input Version

Accept the row count at runtime and use the same wrap-around logic:

c
#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    int rows;
    int i, j;

    printf("Enter the number of rows: ");
    scanf("%d", &rows);

    for (i = 1; i <= rows; ++i) {
        for (j = i; j <= rows; ++j) {
            printf("%d", j);
        }
        for (j = 1; j < i; ++j) {
            printf("%d", j);
        }
        printf("\n");
    }

    return 0;
}

💡 Tips for Enhancement

Try These

  • Add spaces between digits with printf("%d ", j)
  • Rotate in the opposite direction by swapping the print order
  • Change the range (e.g. 1..9) by increasing rows
  • Use characters instead of digits for rotating alphabet patterns

Avoid

  • Forgetting the second loop (wrap-around won’t happen)
  • Printing i twice (keep the wrap loop as j < i)
  • Using invalid row inputs (consider validating rows > 0)

Key Takeaways

1

Each row is the sequence 1..rows rotated to start at i.

2

Two loops per row implement the wrap-around: i..rows then 1..i-1.

3

Each row prints exactly rows values, so it’s O(n²) for n rows.

4

This is a great exercise for understanding circular sequences and loop boundaries.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

After printing i..rows, the second loop prints 1..i-1 to complete the row with a circular shift.
Yes. Use printf("%d ", j) in both loops.
Swap the order: print 1..i-1 first, then i..rows.
O(n²) for n rows, because you print n values per row.

Explore More C Number Patterns!

Keep practicing with more circular, triangular, and pyramid number patterns.

All Number Patterns →
Did you know?

The wrap-around logic here is similar to how modulo arithmetic works for cyclic sequences (like clocks), but implemented with simple loop ranges.

About the author

Mari Selvan M P
Mari Selvan M P 🔗

Developer, cloud engineer, and technical writer

  • Experience 12 years building web and cloud systems
  • Focus Full Stack Development, AWS, and Developer Education

I write practical tutorials so students and working developers can learn by doing—from databases and APIs to deployment on AWS.

AWS Certified Developer – Associate (Credly)

6 people found this page helpful

C Number Pattern 38 C Number Pattern 40