title: hourglass example for java beginners
body: <p>I'm a java beginner and only learned about the scanner class, JOptionPane, loops, and if statements. </p>
  
  <p>I have to create a java program that prints an hour glass shape based on the number the user inputs. The user will also give a character symbol which is what the hourglass shape will consist of. For example if the user enters "4" for shape and "7" for character then it will look this:</p>
  
  <p>8 number "7" on first now. 6 number "7" on second row. 4 number "7" on third row. 2 number "7" on fourth row. 4 number "7" on fifth row. 6 number "7" on seventh row. 8 number "7" on eight row. </p>
  
  <p>Below is a visual representation of this.</p>
  
  <pre><code>77777777
  777777
  7777
  77
  7777
  777777
  77777777
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>The only instructions I was given was: </p>
  
  <p>To read a character use the following code where scanner is Scanner object:</p>
  
  <pre><code>char symbol = scanner.next().charAt(0);
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I would appreciate it if someone could point in the general direction of what code to use.</p>