i am writing a program, that simulates game mastermind. but i am struggling on how to compare guessed pattern to key pattern. the game conditions are a little bit changed: patterns consist of letters. if an element of guessed pattern is equal to element of key pattern, and also index is equal, then print b. if an element of guessed pattern is equal to element of key pattern, but index is not, then print w. if an element of guessed pattern is not equal to element of key pattern, print dot. in feedback about guessed pattern, 'b's come first, 'w's second, '.'s last. my problem is that i cannot think of a way totally satisfies the answer. for (i=0; i<patternlength; i++) { for (x=0; x<patternlength; x++) { if (guess[i]==key[x] && i==x) printf("b"); if (guess[i]==key[x] && i!=x) printf("w"); if (guess[i]!=key[x]) printf("."); } }