Spiral of Numbers

# *Spiral of Numbers Pattern* by @CodingComputing

rows, cols = 5, 5  # parameters

# Initialization
size = rows*cols
matrix = [[None for _ in range(cols)] for _ in range(rows)]

count = 0  # How many numbers are allocated?

# Specify movement directions in clockwise order
dirs = [ (1,0),   (0,1),   (-1,0),  (0, -1)]
#       0:RIGHT  1:DOWN   2:LEFT    3.UP      (in clockwise order)

# Initialize position and direction
x_next, y_next = 0, 0  # Start at top-left of matrix
curr_dir = 0  # Start with moving rightwards

# Iterate n over decreasing numbers
for n in range(size, 0, -1):
    x, y = x_next, y_next  # Update position
    matrix[y][x] = f"{n:02}" # Fill in the number after converting to zero padded str
    x_next = x + dirs[curr_dir][0]  # Propose new x based on current direction
    y_next = y + dirs[curr_dir][1]  # Propose new y based on current direction
    # IF there is a problem with the proposed update, cycle through direction
    if not (0<=x_next<rows and 0<=y_next<cols and not matrix[y_next][x_next]):
        curr_dir = (curr_dir + 1)%4  # Turn 90 degrees clockwise
        x_next = x + dirs[curr_dir][0] # New x based on corrected direction
        y_next = y + dirs[curr_dir][1] # New y based on corrected direction

# Join matrix into a single string and print it
print("\n".join([" ".join(matrix[row]) for row in range(rows)]))