Given a cyclic string str and two integers i and j, the task is to count the minimum number of steps required to move from str[i] to str[j]. A move is to reach any adjacent character in the string and the move is only counted if str[start] != start[end] where start is the starting index for the move and end is the ending (adjacent either on the left or on the right) index. Since, the given string is circular, str[0] and str[n – 1] are adjacent to each other.
Examples:
Input: str = "SSNSS", i = 0, j = 3 Output: 0 From left to right : S -> S -> N -> S From right to left : S -> S -> S
Input: str = "neveropen", i = 0, j = 3 Output: 2
Approach:
- Starting from index i start moving in the right direction till index j and for every character visited, if the current character is not equal to the previous character then increment steps1 = steps1 + 1.
- Similarly, starting from i start moving in the left direction till index 0 and for every character visited, if the current character is not equal to the previous character then increment steps2 = steps2 + 1. Once the index 0 is visited, start traversing from index n – 1 to j and increment step2 if str[0] != str[n – 1].
- Print min(step1, step2) in the end.
Below is the implementation of the above approach:
C++
// C++ implementation of the approach#include <bits/stdc++.h>using namespace std;// Function to return the count of steps// required to move from i to jint getSteps(string str, int i, int j, int n){ // Starting from i + 1 int k = i + 1; // Count of steps int steps = 0; // Current character char ch = str[i]; while (k <= j) { // If current character is different from previous if (str[k] != ch) { // Increment steps steps++; // Update current character ch = str[k]; } k++; } // Return total steps return steps;}// Function to return the minimum number of steps// required to reach j from iint getMinSteps(string str, int i, int j, int n){ // Swap the values so that i <= j if (j < i) { int temp = i; i = j; j = temp; } // Steps to go from i to j (left to right) int stepsToRight = getSteps(str, i, j, n); // While going from i to j (right to left) // First go from i to 0 // then from (n - 1) to j int stepsToLeft = getSteps(str, 0, i, n) + getSteps(str, j, n - 1, n); // If first and last character is different // then it'll add a step to stepsToLeft if (str[0] != str[n - 1]) stepsToLeft++; // Return the minimum of two paths return min(stepsToLeft, stepsToRight);}// Driver codeint main(){ string str = "SSNSS"; int n = str.length(); int i = 0, j = 3; cout << getMinSteps(str, i, j, n); return 0;} |
Java
// Java implementation of the approachclass GFG{ // Function to return the count of steps // required to move from i to j static int getSteps(String str, int i, int j, int n) { // Starting from i + 1 int k = i + 1; // Count of steps int steps = 0; // Current character char ch = str.charAt(i); while (k <= j) { // If current character is different from previous if (str.charAt(k) != ch) { // Increment steps steps++; // Update current character ch = str.charAt(k); } k++; } // Return total steps return steps; } // Function to return the minimum number of steps // required to reach j from i static int getMinSteps(String str, int i, int j, int n) { // Swap the values so that i <= j if (j < i) { int temp = i; i = j; j = temp; } // Steps to go from i to j (left to right) int stepsToRight = getSteps(str, i, j, n); // While going from i to j (right to left) // First go from i to 0 // then from (n - 1) to j int stepsToLeft = getSteps(str, 0, i, n) + getSteps(str, j, n - 1, n); // If first and last character is different // then it'll add a step to stepsToLeft if (str.charAt(0) != str.charAt(n - 1)) stepsToLeft++; // Return the minimum of two paths return Math.min(stepsToLeft, stepsToRight); } // Driver code public static void main(String []args) { String str = "SSNSS"; int n = str.length(); int i = 0, j = 3; System.out.println(getMinSteps(str, i, j, n)); }}// This code is contributed by ihritik |
Python3
# Python3 implementation of the approach# Function to return the count of steps# required to move from i to jdef getSteps( str, i, j, n) : # Starting from i + 1 k = i + 1 # Count of steps steps = 0 # Current character ch = str[i] while (k <= j): # If current character is different from previous if (str[k] != ch): # Increment steps steps = steps + 1 # Update current character ch = str[k] k = k + 1 # Return total steps return steps# Function to return the minimum number of steps# required to reach j from idef getMinSteps( str, i, j, n): # Swap the values so that i <= j if (j < i): temp = i i = j j = temp # Steps to go from i to j (left to right) stepsToRight = getSteps(str, i, j, n) # While going from i to j (right to left) # First go from i to 0 # then from (n - 1) to j stepsToLeft = getSteps(str, 0, i, n) + getSteps(str, j, n - 1, n) # If first and last character is different # then it'll add a step to stepsToLeft if (str[0] != str[n - 1]): stepsToLeft = stepsToLeft + 1 # Return the minimum of two paths return min(stepsToLeft, stepsToRight) # Driver codestr = "SSNSS"n = len(str)i = 0j = 3print(getMinSteps(str, i, j, n))# This code is contributed by ihritik |
C#
// C# implementation of the approachusing System;class GFG{ // Function to return the count of steps // required to move from i to j static int getSteps(string str, int i, int j, int n) { // Starting from i + 1 int k = i + 1; // Count of steps int steps = 0; // Current character char ch = str[i]; while (k <= j) { // If current character is different from previous if (str[k] != ch) { // Increment steps steps++; // Update current character ch = str[k]; } k++; } // Return total steps return steps; } // Function to return the minimum number of steps // required to reach j from i static int getMinSteps(string str, int i, int j, int n) { // Swap the values so that i <= j if (j < i) { int temp = i; i = j; j = temp; } // Steps to go from i to j (left to right) int stepsToRight = getSteps(str, i, j, n); // While going from i to j (right to left) // First go from i to 0 // then from (n - 1) to j int stepsToLeft = getSteps(str, 0, i, n) + getSteps(str, j, n - 1, n); // If first and last character is different // then it'll add a step to stepsToLeft if (str[0] != str[n - 1]) stepsToLeft++; // Return the minimum of two paths return Math.Min(stepsToLeft, stepsToRight); } // Driver code public static void Main() { string str = "SSNSS"; int n = str.Length; int i = 0, j = 3; Console.WriteLine(getMinSteps(str, i, j, n)); }}// This code is contributed by ihritik |
PHP
<?php// PHP implementation of the above approach// Function to return the count of steps // required to move from i to j function getSteps($str, $i, $j, $n) { // Starting from i + 1 $k = $i + 1; // Count of steps $steps = 0; // Current character $ch = $str[$i]; while ($k <= $j) { // If current character is different // from previous if ($str[$k] != $ch) { // Increment steps $steps++; // Update current character $ch = $str[$k]; } $k++; } // Return total steps return $steps; } // Function to return the minimum number // of steps required to reach j from i function getMinSteps($str, $i, $j, $n) { // Swap the values so that i <= j if ($j < $i) { $temp = $i; $i = $j; $j = $temp; } // Steps to go from i to j (left to right) $stepsToRight = getSteps($str, $i, $j, $n); // While going from i to j (right to left) // First go from i to 0 then // from (n - 1) to j $stepsToLeft = getSteps($str, 0, $i, $n) + getSteps($str, $j, $n - 1, $n); // If first and last character is different // then it'll add a step to stepsToLeft if ($str[0] != $str[$n - 1]) $stepsToLeft++; // Return the minimum of two paths return min($stepsToLeft, $stepsToRight); } // Driver code $str = "SSNSS"; $n = strlen($str); $i = 0;$j = 3; echo getMinSteps($str, $i, $j, $n); // This code is contributed by aishwarya.27?> |
Javascript
// Javascript implementation of the approach// Function to return the count of steps// required to move from i to jfunction getSteps(str, i, j, n){ // Starting from i + 1 let k = i + 1; // Count of steps let steps = 0; // Current character let ch = str[i]; while (k <= j) { // If current character is different from previous if (str[k] != ch) { // Increment steps steps++; // Update current character ch = str[k]; } k++; } // Return total steps return steps;}// Function to return the minimum number of steps// required to reach j from ifunction getMinSteps(str, i, j, n){ // Swap the values so that i <= j if (j < i) { let temp = i; i = j; j = temp; } // Steps to go from i to j (left to right) let stepsToRight = getSteps(str, i, j, n); // While going from i to j (right to left) // First go from i to 0 // then from (n - 1) to j let stepsToLeft = getSteps(str, 0, i, n) + getSteps(str, j, n - 1, n); // If first and last character is different // then it'll add a step to stepsToLeft if (str[0] != str[n - 1]) stepsToLeft++; // Return the minimum of two paths return Math.min(stepsToLeft, stepsToRight);}// Driver codelet str = "SSNSS";let n = str.length;let i = 0;let j = 3;console.log(getMinSteps(str, i, j, n));// This code is contributed by Samim Hossain Mondal. |
Output
0
Complexity Analysis:
- Time Complexity: O(j)
- Auxiliary Space: O(1)
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