Task: Bulls and cows_Player
C: #include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <time.h>

char *list;
const char *line = "--------+--------------------\n";
int len = 0;

int irand(int n)
{
	int r, rand_max = RAND_MAX - (RAND_MAX % n);
	do { r = rand(); } while(r >= rand_max);
	return r / (rand_max / n);
}

char* get_digits(int n, char *ret)
{
	int i, j;
	char d[] = "123456789";

	for (i = 0; i < n; i++) { 
		j = irand(9 - i);
		ret[i] = d[i + j];
		if (j) d[i + j] = d[i], d[i] = ret[i];
	}
	return ret;
}

#define MASK(x) (1 << (x - '1'))
int score(const char *digits, const char *guess, int *cow)
{
	int i, bits = 0, bull = *cow = 0;

	for (i = 0; guess[i] != '\0'; i++)
		if (guess[i] != digits[i])
			bits |= MASK(digits[i]);
		else ++bull;

	while (i--) *cow += ((bits & MASK(guess[i])) != 0);

	return bull;
}

void pick(int n, int got, int marker, char *buf)
{
	int i, bits = 1;
	if (got >= n)
		strcpy(list + (n + 1) * len++, buf);
	else
		for (i = 0; i < 9; i++, bits *= 2) {
			if ((marker & bits)) continue;
			buf[got] = i + '1';
			pick(n, got + 1, marker | bits, buf);
		}
}

void filter(const char *buf, int n, int bull, int cow)
{
	int i = 0, c;
	char *ptr = list;

	while (i < len) {
		if (score(ptr, buf, &c) != bull || c != cow)
			strcpy(ptr, list + --len * (n + 1));
		else
			ptr += n + 1, i++;
	}
}

void game(const char *tgt, char *buf)
{
	int i, p, bull, cow, n = strlen(tgt);

	for (i = 0, p = 1; i < n && (p *= 9 - i); i++);
	list = malloc(p * (n + 1));

	pick(n, 0, 0, buf);
	for (p = 1, bull = 0; n - bull; p++) {
		strcpy(buf, list + (n + 1) * irand(len));
		bull = score(tgt, buf, &cow);

		printf("Guess %2d| %s    (from: %d)\n"
			"Score   | %d bull, %d cow\n%s",
			p, buf, len, bull, cow, line);

		filter(buf, n, bull, cow);
	}
}

int main(int c, char **v)
{
	int n = c > 1 ? atoi(v[1]) : 4;

	char secret[10] = "", answer[10] = "";
	srand(time(0));

	printf("%sSecret  | %s\n%s", line, get_digits(n, secret), line);
	game(secret, answer);

	return 0;
}

VB: Option Explicit
 
Sub Main_Bulls_And_Cows_Player()
Dim collSoluces As New Collection, Elem As Variant, Soluce As String
Dim strNumber As String, cpt As Byte, p As Byte
Dim i As Byte, Bulls() As Boolean, NbBulls As Byte, Cows As Byte, Poss As Long
Const NUMBER_OF_DIGITS As Byte = 4
        
        strNumber = CreateNb(NUMBER_OF_DIGITS)
        Debug.Print "TOSS : " & StrConv(strNumber, vbUnicode)
        Debug.Print "---------- START ------------"
        Set collSoluces = CollOfPossibleNumbers
        Poss = collSoluces.Count
        For Each Elem In collSoluces
            
            Debug.Print "Attempt : " & StrConv(Elem, vbUnicode)
            NbBulls = 0: Soluce = Elem
            ReDim Bulls(NUMBER_OF_DIGITS - 1)
            For i = 1 To NUMBER_OF_DIGITS
                If IsBull(strNumber, Mid(Elem, i, 1), i) Then
                    Bulls(i - 1) = True: NbBulls = NbBulls + 1
                    RemoveIfNotBull collSoluces, Mid(Elem, i, 1), i
                End If
            Next i
            Cows = 0
            For i = 1 To NUMBER_OF_DIGITS
                If Not Bulls(i - 1) Then
                    If IsCow(collSoluces, strNumber, Mid(Elem, i, 1), p) Then
                        If Not Bulls(p - 1) Then Cows = Cows + 1
                    End If
                End If
            Next i
            Poss = collSoluces.Count
            Debug.Print "Bulls : " & NbBulls & ", Cows : " & Cows
            If Poss = 1 Then Exit For
        Next
                Debug.Print "---------- THE END ------------"
        Debug.Print "TOSS WAS : " & StrConv(strNumber, vbUnicode) & " We found : " & StrConv(Soluce, vbUnicode)
End Sub
 
Function CreateNb(NbDigits As Byte) As String
Dim myColl As New Collection
Dim strTemp As String
Dim bytAlea As Byte
 
    Randomize
    Do
        bytAlea = Int((Rnd * 9) + 1)
        On Error Resume Next
        myColl.Add CStr(bytAlea), CStr(bytAlea)
        If Err <> 0 Then
            On Error GoTo 0
        Else
            strTemp = strTemp & CStr(bytAlea)
        End If
    Loop While Len(strTemp) < NbDigits
    CreateNb = strTemp
End Function
 
Function CollOfPossibleNumbers() As Collection
Dim TempColl As New Collection
Dim x As String
Dim i As Long
Dim Flag As Boolean
Dim b As Byte
 
    For i = 1234 To 9876
        Flag = False
        For b = 1 To 4
            x = CStr(i)
            If Len(Replace(x, Mid(x, b, 1), "")) < 3 Then
                Flag = True: Exit For
            End If
        Next
        If Not Flag Then TempColl.Add x, x
    Next i
    Set CollOfPossibleNumbers = TempColl
End Function
 
Function IsBull(strgNb As String, Digit As String, place As Byte) As Boolean
    IsBull = (Mid(strgNb, place, 1) = Digit)
End Function

Function IsCow(C As Collection, strgNb As String, Digit As String, place As Byte) As Boolean
    If (InStr(strgNb, Digit) > 0) Then
        IsCow = True: place = InStr(strgNb, Digit)
        RemoveIfNotCow C, Digit
    End If
End Function
 
Sub RemoveIfNotBull(C As Collection, Digit As String, place As Byte)
Dim E As Variant
 
    For Each E In C
        If Mid(E, place, 1) <> Digit Then C.Remove E
    Next
End Sub
 
Sub RemoveIfNotCow(C As Collection, Digit As String)
Dim E As Variant
 
    For Each E In C
        If (InStr(E, Digit) = 0) Then C.Remove E
    Next
End Sub