better algorithm for checking 5 in a row/col in a matrix
You can try improve your method with some heuristics: use the knowledge of the matrix size to exclude element sequences that do not fit and suspend unnecessary calculation. In case the given vector size is 6, you want to find 5 equal elements, and the first 3 elements are different, further calculation do not have any sense.
This approach can give you a significant advantage, if 5 equal elements in a row happen rarely enough.
is there a good algorithm for checking whether there are 5 same elements in a row or a column or diagonally given a square matrix, say 6x6?
there is ofcourse the naive algorithm of iterating through every spot and then for each point in the matrix, iterate through that row, col and then the diagonal. I am wondering if there is a better way of doing it.