Binary search when solution is at boundaries? - python

When working with binary search algorithms, one updates one of the two pointers at each iteration.
However, there are cases like the LeetCode problem where this would miss the solution.
For example, the following solution of threeSumClosest works
class Solution:
def threeSumClosest(self, nums: List[int], target: int) -> int:
nums.sort()
distance = float("inf")
for idx, num in enumerate(nums):
if num >= target:
l = 0
r = idx - 1
else:
l = idx + 1
r = len(nums) -1
while l < r:
res = num + nums[l] + nums[r]
if abs(target-res) < abs(distance):
distance = target - res
if res < target:
l +=1
else:
r -= 1
return target - distance
However, computing mid and using l = mid + 1 or r = mid - 1 misses the solution. How do you handle these cases?
I was expecting that updating l or r to mid +1 or mid -1 the algorithm would find the right solution

This question also appears in other forms, like finding the floor/ceiling of a number in a sorted list, or finding the insertion point of a number in a sorted list. In normal binary search if the middle element doesn’t match the predicate we look left or right, but in all of these problems we need to include it.
For example, given list [1, 2, 4], find insertion point of 3.
class Solution:
def searchInsert(self, nums: List[int], target: int) -> int:
lo = 0
hi = len(nums) - 1
while lo < hi:
mid = lo + (hi - lo) // 2
if nums[mid] == target:
return mid
if nums[mid] < target:
lo = mid + 1
else:
hi = mid
return lo + int(nums[lo] < target)

Related

How to make recursive function that counts the number of occurences in a string in python

I tried this to count the number of occurences of the target in a string in a recursive way, but I don't think where len(target) > 1 is a recursive way. I can't really think of other way to do this in a recursive way. I am doing this without using any string methods except indexing and slicing. Please give some help.
target can be a single character or a substring.
For example, if s = 'aaaaabb' and target = 'aa', i want the output to be 4.
def count(s, target):
if s == '':
return 0
if len(target) > len(s):
return 0
if len(target) <= 1:
if s[0] == target:
return 1 + count(s[1:], target)
else:
return 0 + count(s[1:], target)
if len(target) > 1:
count = 0
for x in range(len(s) - len(target) + 1):
if s[x:x+len(target)] == target:
count += 1
return count
Try:
def count_substring(s, target):
if not s:
return 0
return (s[:len(target)] == target) + count_substring(s[1:], target)
print(count_substring('aaaaabb', 'aa')) # 4
The idea is that at each recursion, the function only cares about the left-most substring, to compare with target. You can think of it as a slight modification of your len(target) <= 1 case.

Leetcode 413: Arithmetic slices Python

Hi I'm trying to solve Leetcode 413: Arithmetic slices. I'm trying to start with a brute force recursive solution.
def numberOfArithmeticSlices(self, nums: List[int]) -> int:
def slices(nums: List[int], i: int):
if (i < 2):
return 0
if nums[i] - nums[i-1] == nums[i-1] - nums[i-2]:
return 1 + slices(nums, i -1)
else:
return slices(nums, i-1)
if len(nums) < 3:
return 0
return slices(nums, len(nums)-1)
This doesn't work for the test case [1,2,3,4] (it returns 2 instead of 3). In my head I know it doesn't work because when the function is called, 1 + slices([1,2,3], 2) returns 2. How can I fix my code to get the arithmetic slice coming from the entire array [1,2,3,4]?
For solving this problem you have to take two steps.
First you have to find all possible contiguous sub-arrays
You have to check them, if they are arithmetic slices.
An understandable solution which is not memory and time efficient is as below:
def numberOfArithmeticSlices(self, nums: List[int]) -> int:
if len(nums) <= 2:
return 0
sub_arrays = self.contiguous_subarray(nums) # type List[List[int]] all contiguous sub arrays with length 3 or more
count = 0
for subset in sub_arrays:
count = count + self.is_arithmetic_subset(subset)
return count
#staticmethod
def is_arithmetic_subset(subset):
if len(subset) <= 2:
return 0
diff = subset[1] - subset[0]
for i in range(2, len(subset)):
if subset[i] - subset[i - 1] != diff:
return 0
return 1
#staticmethod
def contiguous_subarray(nums):
return [nums[i:i + j] for i in range(0, len(nums)) for j in range(3, len(nums) - i + 1)]
But a solution that is little more harder to grasp but is memory and time efficient is as bellow(You could still replace the recursive call with a loop and I think you would get better results doing so):
def numberOfArithmeticSlices(self, nums: List[int]) -> int:
array_len = len(nums)
if array_len <= 2:
return 0
count = self.numberOfArithmeticSlices(nums[:array_len - 1])
diff = nums[array_len - 1] - nums[array_len - 2]
for i in range(2, array_len):
if nums[array_len - i ] - nums[array_len - i - 1] == diff:
count += 1
else:
break
return count

Leetcode question '3Sum' algorithm exceeds time limit, looking for improvement

Given an array nums of n integers, are there elements a, b, c in nums such that a + b + c = 0? Find all unique triplets in the array which gives the sum of zero.
class Solution:
def threeSum(self, nums):
data = []
i = j = k =0
length = len(nums)
for i in range(length):
for j in range(length):
if j == i:
continue
for k in range(length):
if k == j or k == i:
continue
sorted_num = sorted([nums[i],nums[j],nums[k]])
if nums[i]+nums[j]+nums[k] == 0 and sorted_num not in data:
data.append(sorted_num)
return data
My soulution is working well but it appears that it may be too slow.
Is there a way to improve my codes without changing it significantly?
This is a O(n^2) solution with some optimization tricks:
import itertools
class Solution:
def findsum(self, lookup: dict, target: int):
for u in lookup:
v = target - u
# reduce duplication, we may enforce v <= u
try:
m = lookup[v]
if u != v or m > 1:
yield u, v
except KeyError:
pass
def threeSum(self, nums: List[int]) -> List[List[int]]:
lookup = {}
triplets = set()
for x in nums:
for y, z in self.findsum(lookup, -x):
triplets.add(tuple(sorted([x, y, z])))
lookup[x] = lookup.get(x, 0) + 1
return [list(triplet) for triplet in triplets]
First, you need a hash lookup to reduce your O(n^3) algorithm to O(n^2). This is the whole idea, and the rest are micro-optimizations:
the lookup table is build along with the scan on the array, so it is one-pass
the lookup table index on the unique items that seen before, so it handles duplicates efficiently, and by using that, we keep the iteration count of the second-level loop to the minimal
This is an optimized version, will pass through:
from typing import List
class Solution:
def threeSum(self, nums: List[int]) -> List[List[int]]:
unique_triplets = []
nums.sort()
for i in range(len(nums) - 2):
if i > 0 and nums[i] == nums[i - 1]:
continue
lo = i + 1
hi = len(nums) - 1
while lo < hi:
target_sum = nums[i] + nums[lo] + nums[hi]
if target_sum < 0:
lo += 1
if target_sum > 0:
hi -= 1
if target_sum == 0:
unique_triplets.append((nums[i], nums[lo], nums[hi]))
while lo < hi and nums[lo] == nums[lo + 1]:
lo += 1
while lo < hi and nums[hi] == nums[hi - 1]:
hi -= 1
lo += 1
hi -= 1
return unique_triplets
The TLE is most likely for those instances that fall into these two whiles:
while lo < hi and nums[lo] == nums[lo + 1]:
while lo < hi and nums[lo] == nums[lo + 1]:
References
For additional details, please see the Discussion Board where you can find plenty of well-explained accepted solutions with a variety of languages including low-complexity algorithms and asymptotic runtime/memory analysis1, 2.
I'd suggest:
for j in range(i+1, length):
This will save you len(nums)^2/2 steps and first if statement becomes redundant.
sorted_num = sorted([nums[i],nums[j],nums[k]])
if nums[i]+nums[j]+nums[k] == 0 and sorted_num not in data:
sorted_num = sorted([nums[i],nums[j],nums[k]])
data.append(sorted_num)
To avoid unneeded calls to sorted in the innermost loop.
Your solution is the brute force one, and the slowest one.
Better solutions can be:
Assume you start from an element from array. Consider using a Set for finding next two numbers from remaining array.
There is a 3rd better solution as well. See https://www.gyanblog.com/gyan/coding-interview/leetcode-three-sum/

python3 binary search not working [duplicate]

I am trying to implement the binary search in python and have written it as follows. However, I can't make it stop whenever needle_element is larger than the largest element in the array.
Can you help? Thanks.
def binary_search(array, needle_element):
mid = (len(array)) / 2
if not len(array):
raise "Error"
if needle_element == array[mid]:
return mid
elif needle_element > array[mid]:
return mid + binary_search(array[mid:],needle_element)
elif needle_element < array[mid]:
return binary_search(array[:mid],needle_element)
else:
raise "Error"
It would be much better to work with a lower and upper indexes as Lasse V. Karlsen was suggesting in a comment to the question.
This would be the code:
def binary_search(array, target):
lower = 0
upper = len(array)
while lower < upper: # use < instead of <=
x = lower + (upper - lower) // 2
val = array[x]
if target == val:
return x
elif target > val:
if lower == x: # these two are the actual lines
break # you're looking for
lower = x
elif target < val:
upper = x
lower < upper will stop once you have reached the smaller number (from the left side)
if lower == x: break will stop once you've reached the higher number (from the right side)
Example:
>>> binary_search([1,5,8,10], 5) # return 1
1
>>> binary_search([1,5,8,10], 0) # return None
>>> binary_search([1,5,8,10], 15) # return None
Why not use the bisect module? It should do the job you need---less code for you to maintain and test.
array[mid:] creates a new sub-copy everytime you call it = slow. Also you use recursion, which in Python is slow, too.
Try this:
def binarysearch(sequence, value):
lo, hi = 0, len(sequence) - 1
while lo <= hi:
mid = (lo + hi) // 2
if sequence[mid] < value:
lo = mid + 1
elif value < sequence[mid]:
hi = mid - 1
else:
return mid
return None
In the case that needle_element > array[mid], you currently pass array[mid:] to the recursive call. But you know that array[mid] is too small, so you can pass array[mid+1:] instead (and adjust the returned index accordingly).
If the needle is larger than all the elements in the array, doing it this way will eventually give you an empty array, and an error will be raised as expected.
Note: Creating a sub-array each time will result in bad performance for large arrays. It's better to pass in the bounds of the array instead.
You can improve your algorithm as the others suggested, but let's first look at why it doesn't work:
You're getting stuck in a loop because if needle_element > array[mid], you're including element mid in the bisected array you search next. So if needle is not in the array, you'll eventually be searching an array of length one forever. Pass array[mid+1:] instead (it's legal even if mid+1 is not a valid index), and you'll eventually call your function with an array of length zero. So len(array) == 0 means "not found", not an error. Handle it appropriately.
This is a tail recursive solution, I think this is cleaner than copying partial arrays and then keeping track of the indexes for returning:
def binarySearch(elem, arr):
# return the index at which elem lies, or return false
# if elem is not found
# pre: array must be sorted
return binarySearchHelper(elem, arr, 0, len(arr) - 1)
def binarySearchHelper(elem, arr, start, end):
if start > end:
return False
mid = (start + end)//2
if arr[mid] == elem:
return mid
elif arr[mid] > elem:
# recurse to the left of mid
return binarySearchHelper(elem, arr, start, mid - 1)
else:
# recurse to the right of mid
return binarySearchHelper(elem, arr, mid + 1, end)
def binary_search(array, target):
low = 0
mid = len(array) / 2
upper = len(array)
if len(array) == 1:
if array[0] == target:
print target
return array[0]
else:
return False
if target == array[mid]:
print array[mid]
return mid
else:
if mid > low:
arrayl = array[0:mid]
binary_search(arrayl, target)
if upper > mid:
arrayu = array[mid:len(array)]
binary_search(arrayu, target)
if __name__ == "__main__":
a = [3,2,9,8,4,1,9,6,5,9,7]
binary_search(a,9)
Using Recursion:
def binarySearch(arr,item):
c = len(arr)//2
if item > arr[c]:
ans = binarySearch(arr[c+1:],item)
if ans:
return binarySearch(arr[c+1],item)+c+1
elif item < arr[c]:
return binarySearch(arr[:c],item)
else:
return c
binarySearch([1,5,8,10,20,50,60],10)
All the answers above are true , but I think it would help to share my code
def binary_search(number):
numbers_list = range(20, 100)
i = 0
j = len(numbers_list)
while i < j:
middle = int((i + j) / 2)
if number > numbers_list[middle]:
i = middle + 1
else:
j = middle
return 'the index is '+str(i)
If you're doing a binary search, I'm guessing the array is sorted. If that is true you should be able to compare the last element in the array to the needle_element. As octopus says, this can be done before the search begins.
You can just check to see that needle_element is in the bounds of the array before starting at all. This will make it more efficient also, since you won't have to do several steps to get to the end.
if needle_element < array[0] or needle_element > array[-1]:
# do something, raise error perhaps?
It returns the index of key in array by using recursive.
round() is a function convert float to integer and make code fast and goes to expected case[O(logn)].
A=[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]
low = 0
hi = len(A)
v=3
def BS(A,low,hi,v):
mid = round((hi+low)/2.0)
if v == mid:
print ("You have found dude!" + " " + "Index of v is ", A.index(v))
elif v < mid:
print ("Item is smaller than mid")
hi = mid-1
BS(A,low,hi,v)
else :
print ("Item is greater than mid")
low = mid + 1
BS(A,low,hi,v)
BS(A,low,hi,v)
Without the lower/upper indexes this should also do:
def exists_element(element, array):
if not array:
yield False
mid = len(array) // 2
if element == array[mid]:
yield True
elif element < array[mid]:
yield from exists_element(element, array[:mid])
else:
yield from exists_element(element, array[mid + 1:])
Returning a boolean if the value is in the list.
Capture the first and last index of the list, loop and divide the list capturing the mid value.
In each loop will do the same, then compare if value input is equal to mid value.
def binarySearch(array, value):
array = sorted(array)
first = 0
last = len(array) - 1
while first <= last:
midIndex = (first + last) // 2
midValue = array[midIndex]
if value == midValue:
return True
if value < midValue:
last = midIndex - 1
if value > midValue:
first = midIndex + 1
return False

Longest Increasing Cyclic Subsequence

I have a code for finding the longest increasing subsequence, but I'd like to extend this to allow wrap arounds. For example for the sequence (4,5,6,1,2,3) the longest increasing cyclic subsequence is (1,2,3,4,5,6) since once we reach 3, we can go back to the beginning of the sequence (we can only do this once.) Is anyone able to help me?
Here is the code:
def longest_increasing_subsequence(X):
N = len(X)
P = [0] * N
M = [0] * (N+1)
L = 0
for i in range(N):
lo = 1
hi = L
while lo <= hi:
mid = (lo+hi)//2
if (X[M[mid]] < X[i]):
lo = mid+1
else:
hi = mid-1
newL = lo
P[i] = M[newL-1]
M[newL] = i
if (newL > L):
L = newL
S = []
k = M[L]
for i in range(L-1, -1, -1):
S.append(X[k])
k = P[k]
return len(S[::-1])
Concatenate the sequence to the end of itself, then run your algorithm on it.
Just check the returned value from the function on each shift:
max_increasing=longest_increasing_subsequence(X)
for i in range(len(X)-1):
X=X.append(X.pop(0)) #shift X by 1
if longest_increasing_subsequence(X)>max_increasing:
max_increasing=longest_increasing_subsequence(X)

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