Interview question:
Given a sorted array of this form :
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
( A better example would be 10,20,35,42,51,66,71,84,99 but let's use above one)
Convert it to the following low high form without using extra memory or a standard library
1,9,2,8,3,7,4,6,5
A low-high form means that we use the smallest followed by highest. Then we use the second smallest and second-highest.
Initially, when he asked, I had used a secondary array and used the 2 pointer approach. I kept one pointer in front and the second pointer at last . then one by one I copied left and right data to my new array and then moved left as left ++ and right as --right till they cross or become same.
After this, he asked me to do it without memory.
My approach to solving it without memory was on following lines . But it was confusing and not working
1) swap 2nd and last in **odd** (pos index 1)
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 becomes
1,9,3,4,5,6,7,8,2
then we reach even
2) swap 3rd and last in **even** (pos index 2 we are at 3 )
1,9,3,4,5,6,7,8,2 becomes (swapped 3 and 2_ )
1,9,2,4,5,6,7,8,3
and then sawp 8 and 3
1,9,2,4,5,6,7,8,3 becomes
1,9,2,4,5,6,7,3,8
3) we reach in odd (pos index 3 we are at 4 )
1,9,2,4,5,6,7,3,8
becomes
1,9,2,8,5,6,7,3,4
4) swap even 5 to last
and here it becomes wrong
Let me start by pointing out that even registers are a kind of memory. Without any 'extra' memory (other than that occupied by the sorted array, that is) we don't even have counters! That said, here goes:
Let a be an array of n > 2 positive integers sorted in ascending order, with the positions indexed from 0 to n-1.
From i = 1 to n-2, bubble-sort the sub-array ranging from position i to position n-1 (inclusive), alternatively in descending and ascending order. (Meaning that you bubble-sort in descending order if i is odd and in ascending order if it is even.)
Since to bubble-sort you only need to compare, and possibly swap, adjacent elements, you won't need 'extra' memory.
(Mind you, if you start at i = 0 and first sort in ascending order, you don't even need a to be pre-sorted.)
And one more thing: as there was no talk of it in your question, I will keep very silent on the performance of the above algorithm...
We will make n/2 passes and during each pass we will swap each element, from left to right, starting with the element at position 2k-1, with the last element. Example:
pass 1
V
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
1,9,3,4,5,6,7,8,2
1,9,2,4,5,6,7,8,3
1,9,2,3,5,6,7,8,4
1,9,2,3,4,6,7,8,5
1,9,2,3,4,5,7,8,6
1,9,2,3,4,5,6,8,7
1,9,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
pass 2
V
1,9,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
1,9,2,8,4,5,6,7,3
1,9,2,8,3,5,6,7,4
1,9,2,8,3,4,6,7,5
1,9,2,8,3,4,5,7,6
1,9,2,8,3,4,5,6,7
pass 3
V
1,9,2,8,3,4,5,6,7
1,9,2,8,3,7,5,6,4
1,9,2,8,3,7,4,6,5
1,9,2,8,3,7,4,5,6
pass 4
V
1,9,2,8,3,7,4,5,6
1,9,2,8,3,7,4,6,5
This should take O(n^2) swaps and uses no extra memory beyond the counters involved.
The loop invariant to prove is that the first 2k+1 positions are correct after iteration k of the loop.
Alright, assuming that with constant space complexity, we need to lose some of our time complexity, the following algorithm possibly works in O(n^2) time complexity.
I wrote this in python. I wrote it as quickly as possible so apologies for any syntactical errors.
# s is the array passed.
def hi_low(s):
last = len(s)
for i in range(0, last, 2):
if s[i+1] == None:
break
index_to_swap = last
index_to_be_swapped = i+1
while s[index_to_be_swapped] != s[index_to_swap]:
# write your own swap func here
swap(s[index_to_swap], s[index_to_swap-1])
index_to_swap -=1
return s
Quick explanation:
Suppose the initial list given to us is:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
So in our program, initially,
index_to_swap = last
meaning that it is pointing to 9, and
index_to_be_swapped = i+1
is i+1, i.e one step ahead of our current loop pointer. [Also remember we're looping with a difference of 2].
So initially,
i = 0
index_to_be_swapped = 1
index_to_swap = 9
and in the inner loop what we're checking is: until the values in both of these indexes are same, we keep on swapping
swap(s[index_to_swap], s[index_to_swap-1])
so it'll look like:
# initially:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
^ ^---index_to_swap
^-----index_to_be_swapped
# after 1 loop
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 8
^ ^-----index_to_swap
^----- index_to_be_swapped
... goes on until
1 9 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
^-----index_to_swap
^-----index_to_be_swapped
Now, the inner loop's job is done, and the main loop is run again with
1 9 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
^ ^---- index_to_swap
^------index_to_be_swapped
This runs until it's behind 2.
So the outer loop runs for almost n\2 times, and for each outer loop the inner loop runs for almost n\2 times in the worst case so the time complexity if n/2*n/2 = n^2/4 which is the order of n^2 i.e O(n^2).
If there are any mistakes please feel free to point it out.
Hope this helps!
It will work for any sorted array
let arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9];
let i = arr[0];
let j = arr[arr.length - 1];
let k = 0;
while(k < arr.length) {
arr[k] = i;
if(arr[k+1]) arr[k+1] = j;
i++;
k += 2;
j--;
}
console.log(arr);
Explanation: Because its a sorted array, you need to know 3 things to produce your expected output.
Starting Value : let i = arr[0]
Ending Value(You can also find it with the length of array by the way): let j = arr[arr.length -1]
Length of Array: arr.length
Loop through the array and set the value like this
arr[firstIndex] = firstValue, arr[thirdIndex] = firstValue + 1 and so on..
arr[secondIndex] = lastValue, arr[fourthIndex] = lastValue - 1 and so on..
Obviously you can do the same things in a different way. But i think that's the simplest way.
This was an interview question.
I was given an array of n+1 integers from the range [1,n]. The property of the array is that it has k (k>=1) duplicates, and each duplicate can appear more than twice. The task was to find an element of the array that occurs more than once in the best possible time and space complexity.
After significant struggling, I proudly came up with O(nlogn) solution that takes O(1) space. My idea was to divide range [1,n-1] into two halves and determine which of two halves contains more elements from the input array (I was using Pigeonhole principle). The algorithm continues recursively until it reaches the interval [X,X] where X occurs twice and that is a duplicate.
The interviewer was satisfied, but then he told me that there exists O(n) solution with constant space. He generously offered few hints (something related to permutations?), but I had no idea how to come up with such solution. Assuming that he wasn't lying, can anyone offer guidelines? I have searched SO and found few (easier) variations of this problem, but not this specific one. Thank you.
EDIT: In order to make things even more complicated, interviewer mentioned that the input array should not be modified.
Take the very last element (x).
Save the element at position x (y).
If x == y you found a duplicate.
Overwrite position x with x.
Assign x = y and continue with step 2.
You are basically sorting the array, it is possible because you know where the element has to be inserted. O(1) extra space and O(n) time complexity. You just have to be careful with the indices, for simplicity I assumed first index is 1 here (not 0) so we don't have to do +1 or -1.
Edit: without modifying the input array
This algorithm is based on the idea that we have to find the entry point of the permutation cycle, then we also found a duplicate (again 1-based array for simplicity):
Example:
2 3 4 1 5 4 6 7 8
Entry: 8 7 6
Permutation cycle: 4 1 2 3
As we can see the duplicate (4) is the first number of the cycle.
Finding the permutation cycle
x = last element
x = element at position x
repeat step 2. n times (in total), this guarantees that we entered the cycle
Measuring the cycle length
a = last x from above, b = last x from above, counter c = 0
a = element at position a, b = elment at position b, b = element at position b, c++ (so we make 2 steps forward with b and 1 step forward in the cycle with a)
if a == b the cycle length is c, otherwise continue with step 2.
Finding the entry point to the cycle
x = last element
x = element at position x
repeat step 2. c times (in total)
y = last element
if x == y then x is a solution (x made one full cycle and y is just about to enter the cycle)
x = element at position x, y = element at position y
repeat steps 5. and 6. until a solution was found.
The 3 major steps are all O(n) and sequential therefore the overall complexity is also O(n) and the space complexity is O(1).
Example from above:
x takes the following values: 8 7 6 4 1 2 3 4 1 2
a takes the following values: 2 3 4 1 2
b takes the following values: 2 4 2 4 2
therefore c = 4 (yes there are 5 numbers but c is only increased when making steps, not initially)
x takes the following values: 8 7 6 4 | 1 2 3 4
y takes the following values: | 8 7 6 4
x == y == 4 in the end and this is a solution!
Example 2 as requested in the comments: 3 1 4 6 1 2 5
Entering cycle: 5 1 3 4 6 2 1 3
Measuring cycle length:
a: 3 4 6 2 1 3
b: 3 6 1 4 2 3
c = 5
Finding the entry point:
x: 5 1 3 4 6 | 2 1
y: | 5 1
x == y == 1 is a solution
Here is a possible implementation:
function checkDuplicate(arr) {
console.log(arr.join(", "));
let len = arr.length
,pos = 0
,done = 0
,cur = arr[0]
;
while (done < len) {
if (pos === cur) {
cur = arr[++pos];
} else {
pos = cur;
if (arr[pos] === cur) {
console.log(`> duplicate is ${cur}`);
return cur;
}
cur = arr[pos];
}
done++;
}
console.log("> no duplicate");
return -1;
}
for (t of [
[0, 1, 2, 3]
,[0, 1, 2, 1]
,[1, 0, 2, 3]
,[1, 1, 0, 2, 4]
]) checkDuplicate(t);
It is basically the solution proposed by #maraca (typed too slowly!) It has constant space requirements (for the local variables), but apart from that only uses the original array for its storage. It should be O(n) in the worst case, because as soon as a duplicate is found, the process terminates.
If you are allowed to non-destructively modify the input vector, then it is pretty easy. Suppose we can "flag" an element in the input by negating it (which is obviously reversible). In that case, we can proceed as follows:
Note: The following assume that the vector is indexed starting at 1. Since it is probably indexed starting at 0 (in most languages), you can implement "Flag item at index i" with "Negate the item at index i-1".
Set i to 0 and do the following loop:
Increment i until item i is unflagged.
Set j to i and do the following loop:
Set j to vector[j].
if the item at j is flagged, j is a duplicate. Terminate both loops.
Flag the item at j.
If j != i, continue the inner loop.
Traverse the vector setting each element to its absolute value (i.e. unflag everything to restore the vector).
It depends what tools are you(your app) can use. Currently a lot of frameworks/libraries exists. For exmaple in case of C++ standart you can use std::map<> ,as maraca mentioned.
Or if you have time you can made your own implementation of binary tree, but you need to keep in mind that insert of elements differs in comarison with usual array. In this case you can optimise search of duplicates as it possible in your particular case.
binary tree expl. ref:
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Binary_tree
I have quite big array. To make things simple lets simplify it to:
A = [1 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5];
So, there is a group of 1's (4 elements), 2's (2 elements), 3's (4 elements), 4's (2 elements) and 5's (8 elements). Now, I want to keep only columns, which belong to group of 3 or more elements. So it will be like:
B = [1 1 1 1 3 3 3 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5];
I was doing it using for loop, scanning separately 1's, 2's, 3's and so on, but its extremely slow with big arrays...
Thanks for any suggestions how to do it in more efficient way :)
Art.
A general approach
If your vector is not necessarily sorted, then you need to run to count the number of occurrences of each element in the vector. You have histc just for that:
elem = unique(A);
counts = histc(A, elem);
B = A;
B(ismember(A, elem(counts < 3))) = []
The last line picks the elements that have less than 3 occurrences and deletes them.
An approach for a grouped vector
If your vector is "semi-sorted", that is if similar elements in the vector are grouped together (as in your example), you can speed things up a little by doing the following:
start_idx = find(diff([0, A]))
counts = diff([start_idx, numel(A) + 1]);
B = A;
B(ismember(A, A(start_idx(counts < 3)))) = []
Again, note that the vector need not to be entirely sorted, just that similar elements are adjacent to each other.
Here is my two-liner
counts = accumarray(A', 1);
B = A(ismember(A, find(counts>=3)));
accumarray is used to count the individual members of A. find extracts the ones that meet your '3 or more elements' criterion. Finally, ismember tells you where they are in A. Note that A needs not be sorted. Of course, accumarray only works for integer values in A.
What you are describing is called run-length encoding.
There is software for this in Matlab on the FileExchange. Or you can do it directly as follows:
len = diff([ 0 find(A(1:end-1) ~= A(2:end)) length(A) ]);
val = A(logical([ A(1:end-1) ~= A(2:end) 1 ]));
Once you have your run-length encoding you can remove elements based on the length. i.e.
idx = (len>=3)
len = len(idx);
val = val(idx);
And then decode to get the array you want:
i = cumsum(len);
j = zeros(1, i(end));
j(i(1:end-1)+1) = 1;
j(1) = 1;
B = val(cumsum(j));
Here's another way to do it using matlab built-ins.
% Set up
A=[1 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 5];
threshold=2;
% Get the unique elements of the array
uniqueElements=unique(A);
% Count haw many times each unique element occurs
counts=histc(A,uniqueElements);
% Write which elements should be kept
toKeep=uniqueElements(counts>threshold);
% Make a logical index
indexer=false(size(A));
for i=1:length(toKeep)
% For every unique element we want to keep select the indices in A that
% are equal
indexer=indexer|(toKeep(i)==A);
end
% Apply index
B=A(indexer);