Develop Reference

How to optimize an algorithm with multiple while loops?

I am trying to solve a problem on leetcode.com Ugly Number II.
problem: An ugly number is a positive integer whose prime factors are limited to 2, 3, and 5.
Given an integer n, return the nth ugly number.
example:
Input: n = 10
Output: 12
Explanation: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12] is the sequence of the first 10 ugly numbers.
This is my solution
class Solution {
public int nthUglyNumber(int n) {
int outputNumber = 6;
int temp = 1;
if (n < 7) {
return n;
}
int i = 7;
while (i != (n + 1)) {
outputNumber = outputNumber + 1;
temp = outputNumber;
while (temp % 5 == 0) {
temp = temp / 5;
}
while (temp % 2 == 0) {
temp = temp / 2;
}
while (temp % 3 == 0) {
temp = temp / 3;
}
if (temp == 1) {
i = i + 1;
}
}
return outputNumber;
}
}
this works for small numbers, but when the input is a big number, then I have Time Limit Exceeded
The question is how to optimize this code?
Thank you!

Hint: You're looking for numbers of the form 2a×3b×5c for non-negative integers a, b, c. Instead of looking for ugly numbers, wouldn't it be easier to just generate them?

I used two tricks to make it about twice as fast, but it's still far too slow. I suspect the check-all-integers-for-ugliness approach is hopeless, and you'll find faster approaches in the discussions on LeetCode.
class Solution {
public int nthUglyNumber(int n) {
for (int i = 1; true; i++)
if (1418776204833984375L % (i / (i & -i)) == 0)
if (--n == 0)
return i;
}
}
The two tricks:
i & -i extracts the lowest 1-bit, so dividing by that takes out every factor 2.
1418776204833984375 is 319×513. Every positive int with only factors 3 and 5 divides that, and every other positive int doesn't.

I think the easiest way is to just maintain a collection of ugly numbers that we will need to visit. We start with a collection containing just 1, and then at each step, we remove the lowest value, and add the values found by multiplying our lowest value by 2, by 3, and by 5. Since these may be duplicates (24 = 8 * 3 and 24 = 12 * 2) but we only want them once apiece, our collection should be a Set.
My Java is far too rusty, but here's a JavaScript implementation that you could use as pseudocode:
const ugly = (count) => {
const upcoming = new Set ([1])
const found = []
while (found .length < count) {
const next = Math .min (...upcoming .values ())
found .push (next)
upcoming .delete (next)
upcoming .add (2 * next)
upcoming .add (3 * next)
upcoming .add (5 * next)
}
return found
}
const uglies = ugly (1690) // This was the upper bound specified in the problem
const nthUglyNumber = (n) => uglies [n - 1]
console .log (nthUglyNumber (10))
console .log (nthUglyNumber (1690))
ugly finds the first count ugly numbers, returning them as an Array. Internally, it keeps two collections. upcoming is the ugly numbers we know we would eventually hit. found is an array of numbers we have actually reached, always taking the smallest of the upcoming values. When we select the next one, we remove it from upcoming and add to upcoming its 2-, 3-, and 5-multiples.
This could be modified to be our only function. But it's nice to call it once for our top value, and store the resulting array, as uglies. Then nthUglyNumber is a simple function that extracts the value at the correct index.

Find minimum number of packs that make a given value

I am trying to solve similar to this problem but with some modifications:
"Given a value V, if we want to make a change for V cents, and we have an infinite supply of each of C = { C1, C2, .. , Cm} valued coins, what is the minimum number of coins to make the change?"
Input: coins[] = {25, 10, 5}, V = 30
Output: Minimum 2 coins required
We can use one coin of 25 cents and one of 5 cents
In my case instead of just an array of numbers I have an array of objects. That in each object I have a qty and price.
I want to print the minimum number of objects that form the given qty, and after that print the price, something like:
2 x 5 9.95
1 x 3 5.95
I came to this code but I cannot find how to complete the task:
public static void main(String[] args) {
Product croissant = new Product("Croissant", "CF", null);
Pack CF_1 = new Pack(3, 5.95);
Pack CF_2 = new Pack(5, 9.95);
Pack CF_3 = new Pack(9, 16.99);
croissant.addPack(CF_1);
croissant.addPack(CF_2);
croissant.addPack(CF_3);
System.out.println(minCoins(croissant, 13));
}
static int minCoins(Product product, int V) {
// table[i] will be storing
// the minimum number of coins
// required for i value. So
// table[V] will have result
int table[] = new int[V + 1];
// Base case (If given value V is 0)
table[0] = 0;
// Initialize all table values as Infinite
for (int i = 1; i <= V; i++)
table[i] = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
// Compute minimum coins required for all
// values from 1 to V
for (int i = 1; i <= V; i++) {
// Go through all coins smaller than i
for (Pack pack : product.packList) {
if (pack.qty <= i) {
int sub_res = table[i - pack.qty];
if (sub_res != Integer.MAX_VALUE
&& sub_res + 1 < table[i])
table[i] = sub_res + 1;
}
}
}
return table[V];
}

You could get the list of packs that contribute to the minimum coins like below:
You start with given V then you look for the pack at which the table has value that is lesser by 1, because to reach V you must have had a value somewhere that is 1 lesser. If you found one, add it to the list, and reduce the next V by the quantity of the pack you found and continue.
Code is :
void printList(int[] table, Product product, int V) {
List<Pack> list = new ArrayList<>();
if ( table[V] == Integer.MAX_VALUE ) return list;
while ( V > 0 ) {
for (Pack pack : product.packList) {
if ( V >= pack.qty && table[V-pack.qty] == table[V] - 1 ) {
list.add(pack);
V = V-pack.qty;
break;
}
}
}
}
For your example of V = 13 , the list would be :
[{3, 5.95}, {5, 9.95}, {5, 9.95}]
This is assuming you implement toString() of the Pack class as;
public String toString() {
return "{" + this.qty + "," + this.price + "}";
}
You can reduce your list to a map if you would like using Collectors
something like : list.stream().collect(Collectors.groupingBy(Pack::getQty))

Is there random nextInt with weights?

I am using random class to generate random numbers between 1 and 5 like myrandom.nextInt(6) and it is working fine however i would like to know if there is a way to give a specific number a weight to increase it is probability to appear, lets say instead of %20 probability i want number "4" to have %40 probability and other numbers 1,2,3,5 share the rest of %60 probability equally. is there a way for this?
Thanks in advance.

I use an array. E.g.
int[] arr = {4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6};
int a = arr[random.nextInt(arr.length)];
For a more dynamic solution, try this. The weights do not have to add up to any particular value.
public static <T> T choice(Map<? extends T, Double> map) {
if (map == null || map.size() == 0)
throw new IllegalArgumentException();
double sum = 0;
for (double w : map.values()) {
if (Double.compare(w, 0) <= 0 || Double.isInfinite(w) || Double.isNaN(w))
throw new IllegalArgumentException();
sum += w;
}
double rand = sum * Math.random();
sum = 0;
T t = null;
for (Map.Entry<? extends T, Double> entry : map.entrySet()) {
t = entry.getKey();
if ((sum += entry.getValue()) >= rand)
return t;
}
return t;
}
You can easily add / remove / change entries from the map whenever you like. Here is an example of how you use this method.
Map<Integer, Double> map = new HashMap<>();
map.put(1, 40.0);
map.put(2, 50.0);
map.put(3, 10.0);
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
System.out.println(choice(map));

pbadcefp's answer is probably the easiest. Since you stated in the comments that you need it to be "dynamic", here's an alternate approach. Note that the weights basically specify how often the number appears in the array to pick from
public int weightedRandom( Random random, int max, Map<Integer, Integer> weights ) {
int totalWeight = max;
for( int weight : weights.values() ) {
totalWeight += weight - 1;
}
int choice = random.nextInt( totalWeight );
int current = 0;
for( int i = 0; i < max; i++ ) {
current += weights.containsKey( i ) ? weights.get( i ) : 1;
if( choice < current ) {
return i;
}
}
throw new IllegalStateException();
}
Example usage:
Map<Integer, Integer> weights = new HashMap<>();
weights.put( 1, 0 ); // make choosing '1' impossible
weights.put( 4, 3 ); // '4' appears 3 times rather than once
int result = weightedRandom( new Random(), 5, weights );
Basically, this is equivalent to pbadcefp's solution applied on the array { 0, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4 }
You will have to adapt this if you want to use percentages. Just calculate weights accordingly. Also, I didn't test cornercases on this, so you might want to test this a little bit more extensively.
This is by no means a complete solution, but I prefer giving something to work on over complete solutions since you should do some of the work yourself.
I'll also go on record and say that IMHO this is over-engineered; but you wanted something like this.

You'll have to generate a larger range of numbers (like from 1 to 100) and use ranges to return the numbers you really want. Eg: (in pseudocode)
r = randint(1..100)
if (r >= 1 && r <= 20) // 20% chance
return 1
else if (r >= 21 && r <= 60) // 40% chance
return 2
Etc.

Find maximum product of 3 numbers in an array

Given an array of integers, which can contain both +ve and -ve numbers. I've to maximize the product of any 3 elements of the array. The elements can be non-contiguous.
Some examples:
int[] arr = {-5, -7, 4, 2, 1, 9}; // Max Product of 3 numbers = -5 * -7 * 9
int[] arr2 = {4, 5, -19, 3}; // Max Product of 3 numbers = 4 * 5 * 3
I've tried solving it using Dynamic Programming, but I'm not getting the expected result. It is returning the result often involving the same number twice in the multiplication. So, for the array - {4, 2, 1, 9}, it is returning - 32, which is 4 * 4 * 2.
Here's my code:
public static int maxProduct(int[] arr, int count) {
return maxProduct(arr, 0, arr.length - 1, count);
}
private static int maxProduct(int[] arr, int fromIndex, int toIndex, int count) {
if (count == 1) {
return maximum(arr, fromIndex, toIndex);
} else if (toIndex - fromIndex + 1 < count) {
return 1;
} else {
return MathUtil.max(maxProduct(arr, fromIndex, toIndex - 1, count - 1) * arr[toIndex - 1],
maxProduct(arr, fromIndex, toIndex - 1, count));
}
}
MathUtil.max(int a, int b) is a method that gives maximum of a and b.
The two values I pass to max method there are:
maxProduct, when we consider last element as a part of product.
maxProduct, when we don't consider it as a part of product.
count contains the number of element we want to consider. Here 3.
For count == 1, we have to find maximum of 1 element from array. That means, we have to use maximum array element.
If toIndex - fromIndex + 1 < count, means, there are not enough elements in the array between those indices.
I've an intuition that, the first if condition is one of the reason of failure. Because, it is only considering maximum element from an array, while the maximum product may comprise of negative numbers too. But I don't know how to take care of that.
The reason I'm using Dynamic Programming is that I can then generalize this solution to work for any value of count. Of course, if someone have any better approach, even for count = 3, I welcome the suggestion (I would want to avoid sorting the array, as that will be another O(nlogn) at the least).

Sort the given array in ascending order and you have to take the maximum of these cases
to get the answer..
product of last 3 numbers in sorted array
Product of first two and last number in the sorted array

For count=3, your solution will have 1 of 3 forms:
The 3 largest positive values (assuming there ARE 3 positive values)
The largest positive value and the 2 smallest negative values (assuming there IS a positive value)
The 3 least negative values
Each of which can be solved a lot easier than using DP.

It is always max of(smallest two negative digits and biggest positive or
last three big positive numbers)
public static void main(String args[]){
int array[] = {-5,-1,4,2,1,9};
Arrays.sort(array);
int length = array.length;
System.out.println(max(array[0]*array[1]*array[length-1],
array[length-1]*array[length-2]*array[length-3]));
}

Sort The Array
Then max will be either the product of last 3 or first 2(if negative) and the last.
Arrays.sort(arr);
int max1 = (arr[n - 1] * arr[n - 2] * arr[n - 3]);
int max2 = (arr[0] * arr[1] * arr[n - 1]);
System.out.println(max1 > max2 ? max1 : max2);

n=len(arr1)
for i in range(0,n):
arr1[i]=abs(arr1[i])
arr1.sort()
return arr1[n-1]*arr1[n-2]*arr1[n-3]
even though this solution is simple this basically involves sorting the array and then taking the product of last three numbers , before that is to be done ; all the values in the array should be positive .which is done by the first for loop.

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.HashSet;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Set;
public class ComputeMaxProduct {
public static void main(String[] args){
int [] arr = {4, 5, -19, 3};
List<Integer> superSet = new ArrayList<>();
for (int a : arr ){
superSet.add(a);
}
int k = 3;
int maxProduct = computeMaxProduct(superSet, k);
System.out.println("maximum product is : " + maxProduct);
}
private static int computeMaxProduct( List<Integer> superSet, int k ){
List<Set<Integer>> res = getSubsets(superSet,k);
int maxProduct = 1;
for(int index = 0; index < res.size(); index++){
int product = 1;
for(Integer i : res.get(index)){
product *= i;
}
if (product > maxProduct){
maxProduct = product;
}
}
return maxProduct;
}
private static void getSubsets(List<Integer> superSet, int k, int idx, Set<Integer> current,List<Set<Integer>> solution) {
//successful stop clause
if (current.size() == k) {
solution.add(new HashSet<>(current));
return;
}
//unseccessful stop clause
if (idx == superSet.size()) return;
Integer x = superSet.get(idx);
current.add(x);
//"guess" x is in the subset
getSubsets(superSet, k, idx+1, current, solution);
current.remove(x);
//"guess" x is not in the subset
getSubsets(superSet, k, idx+1, current, solution);
}
public static List<Set<Integer>> getSubsets(List<Integer> superSet, int k) {
List<Set<Integer>> res = new ArrayList<>();
getSubsets(superSet, k, 0, new HashSet<Integer>(), res);
return res;
}
}

public class MaxProdofThreenumbers {
public int ThreeLargeNumbers(int[] a) {
int topfirstpos = 0;
int topsecpos = 0;
int topthirdpos = 0;
int topfirstneg = 0;
int topsecneg = 0;
int prodneg = 0;
int prodpos = 0;
int prodmax = 0;
boolean flag = false;
for (int i = 0; i < a.length; i++) {
String num = a[i] + "";
if (num.contains("-")) {
String array[] = num.split("-");
num = array[1];
flag = true;
} else
flag = false;
if (flag) {
if (topfirstneg < Integer.valueOf(num)) {
topsecneg = topfirstneg;
topfirstneg = Integer.valueOf(num);
} else if (topsecneg < Integer.valueOf(num)) {
topsecneg = Integer.valueOf(num);
}
}
else {
if (topfirstpos < Integer.valueOf(num)) {
topsecpos = topfirstpos;
topfirstpos = Integer.valueOf(num);
}
else if (topsecpos < Integer.valueOf(num)) {
topthirdpos = topsecpos;
topsecpos = Integer.valueOf(num);
}
else if (topthirdpos < Integer.valueOf(num)) {
topthirdpos = Integer.valueOf(num);
}
}
}
prodneg = topfirstneg * topsecneg;
prodpos = topfirstpos * topsecpos;
if (prodneg > prodpos) {
prodmax = prodneg * topfirstpos;
} else {
prodmax = prodpos * topthirdpos;
}
return prodmax;
}
public static void main(String a[]) {
int list[] = { -29, 3, -2, -57, 8, -789, 34 };
MaxProdofThreenumbers t = new MaxProdofThreenumbers();
System.out.println(t.ThreeLargeNumbers(list));
}
}

This problem can be done in O(n) time.
Keep track of these 5 variables and update them during every iteration:
highest product of 3 numbers
highest product of 2 numbers
highest element
lowest product of 2 numbers
lowest element
After last iteration, product of 3 numbers variable will be the answer.

package interviewProblems;
import interviewProblems.exceptions.ArrayTooSmallException;
import java.util.PriorityQueue;
public class Problem5 {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int[] data1 = new int[]{}; // error
int[] data2 = new int[]{1, 5}; // error
int[] data3 = new int[]{1, 4, 2, 8, 9}; // Case: all positive --> 3-max
int[] data4 = new int[]{10, 11, 12, -20}; // Case: 1 negative --> 3-max
int[] data5 = new int[]{-5, -6, -10, 7, 8, 9}; // Case: 2+ negative --> 3-max || 1-max 2-small
int[] data6 = new int[]{-12, -10, -6, -4}; // Case: all negative --> 3-max
int[] data7 = new int[]{-10, -10, 1, 3, 2};
try {
productOfThree(data2);
} catch (Exception e) {
System.out.println(e.getMessage());
}
try {
System.out.println(productOfThree(data3));
System.out.println(productOfThree(data4));
System.out.println(productOfThree(data5));
System.out.println(productOfThree(data6));
System.out.println(productOfThree(data7));
} catch (Exception e) {
System.out.println("You should not see this line");
}
}
// O(n) time
// O(1) memory
private static int productOfThree(int[] data) throws ArrayTooSmallException {
if (data.length < 3) {
throw new ArrayTooSmallException(3 , data.length);
}
PriorityQueue<Integer> maxNumbers = new PriorityQueue<>(); // keep track of 3 largest numbers
PriorityQueue<Integer> minNumbers = new PriorityQueue<>((x, y) -> y - x); // keep track of two smallest numbers
for (int i = 0; i < data.length; i++) {
maxNumbers.add(data[i]);
minNumbers.add(data[i]);
if(maxNumbers.size() > 3) {
maxNumbers.poll();
}
if(minNumbers.size() > 2){
minNumbers.poll();
}
}
int maxLow = maxNumbers.poll();
int maxMed = maxNumbers.poll();
int maxHigh = maxNumbers.poll();
int minHigh = minNumbers.poll();
int minLow = minNumbers.poll();
int possibleProduct1 = maxHigh * maxMed * maxLow;
int possibleProduct2 = maxHigh * minHigh * minLow;
return Math.max(possibleProduct1, possibleProduct2);
}
// O(n) time
// O(n) memory
// private static int productOfThree(int[] data) throws ArrayTooSmallException {
// if(data.length < 3) {
// throw new ArrayTooSmallException("Array must be at least 3 long to preform productOfThree(int[] data)");
// }
//
// PriorityQueue<Integer> maxNumbers = new PriorityQueue<>((x , y) -> y - x); // keep track of 3 largest numbers
// PriorityQueue<Integer> minNumbers = new PriorityQueue<>(); // keep track of two smallest numbers
//
// for(int i = 0; i < data.length; i++) {
// maxNumbers.add(data[i]);
// minNumbers.add(data[i]);
// }
//
// int maxHigh = maxNumbers.poll();
// int maxMed = maxNumbers.poll();
// int maxLow = maxNumbers.poll();
//
// int minLow = minNumbers.poll();
// int minHigh = minNumbers.poll();
//
// int possibleProduct1 = maxHigh * maxMed * maxLow;
// int possibleProduct2 = maxHigh * minHigh * minLow;
//
// return Math.max(possibleProduct1 , possibleProduct2);
// }
}
https://github.com/amilner42/interviewPractice/blob/master/src/interviewProblems/Problem5.java

Assuming that the a positive product is bigger than a negative product, I can think of the following way it can be done.
If there are less than two negative elements in the array, then it is simple, product of top 3(top == positive) elements.
If negative numbers are chosen, at least 2 of them have to be in the product, so that product is positive. Therefore whatever be the case, the top (positive) number will always be part of the product.
Multiply last two(negatives) and 2nd and 3rd highest(positives) and compare. Out of these two pairs whichever has higher value, will be part of the final product along with the top positive shortlisted in line above.

https://stackoverflow.com/users/2466168/maandoo 's answer is the best.
As, he said, answer is max(l,r) for
r. product of last 3 numbers in sorted array
l. product of first two and last number in the sorted array
Let me elaborate now.
I think this problem is confusion because each number can be positive, negative and zero. 3 state is annoying to mange by programming, you know!
Case 1) Given three numbers
Use them all
Case 2) Given four numbers
Positive number is show +, Negative number is show -.
Numbers are sorted from left to right.
Case 2-1)
2-1) ---- => r (answer is negative)
2-2) ---+ => l (answer is positive)
2-3) --++ => l (answer is positive)
2-4) -+++ => r (answer is positive)
2-5) ++++ => r (answer is positive)
When a 0 is mixed in four numbers, it comes between
- and +.
Case 2-2)
Suppose smallest + was actually 0.
2-1) ---- => r (answer is negative)
2-2) ---0 => l (answer is 0)
2-3) --0+ => l (answer is positive)
2-4) -0++ => r (answer is 0)
2-5) 0+++ => r (answer is positive)
Case 2-3)
Suppose largest - was actually 0.
2-1) ---0 => r (answer is 0)
2-2) --0+ => l (answer is positive)
2-3) -0++ => l (answer is 0)
2-4) 0+++ => r (answer is positive)
2-5) ++++ => r (answer is positive)
Case 2-4)
If more than two 0 is mixed, products becomes always 0 because
-00+
Summary for Case 2)
answer is consistent among Case 2-1 ~ 2-4.
2-1) r (negative or 0)
2-2) l (0 or positive)
2-3) l (0 or positive)
2-4) r (0 or positive)
2-5) r (positive)
So, we do not need to worry about 0 actually.
Case 3) More than four numbers
The same with Case 2

u have to consider 3 cases:
1. max 3 positive elements can be the first answer(say 10*20*70).
2. max positive elements multiplied by 2 most negative answers is another candidate(say20*-40*-60).
3.in case where all array elements are negative,3 elements with minimum negative magnitude is answer(-1*-2*-3 in [-1,-2,3,-4,-5]).
for simplicity of question we can merge 1st and 3rd case.
find 3 maximum elements of array, similarly find 2 minimum elements of array.
u will get 2 candidates. Print the maximum of those candidates.
C++ Code:
#include <iostream>
#include <limits.h>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
int n; cin>>n; int arr[n]; for(int a=0;a<n;a++) cin>>arr[a];
bool flag=0;
int max1=INT_MIN,max2=INT_MIN,max3=INT_MIN;
int min1=INT_MAX,min2=INT_MAX;
for(int a=0;a<n;a++)
{
if(arr[a]>max1) {max3=max2; max2=max1; max1=arr[a];}
else if(arr[a]>max2) {max3=max2; max2=arr[a];}
else if(arr[a]>max3) max3=arr[a]; flag=1;
if(arr[a]<min1) {min2=min1; min1=arr[a];}
else if(arr[a]<min2) min2=arr[a];
}
int prod1=INT_MIN,prod2=INT_MIN;
if(max1>INT_MIN && max2>INT_MIN && max3>INT_MIN) prod1=max1*max2*max3;
if(max1>INT_MIN && min1<INT_MAX && min2<INT_MAX) prod2=max1*min1*min2;
cout<<max(prod1,prod2)<<endl;
}

// Here is a simple java program to find the maximum product of three numbers in an array.
import java.util.*;
import java.lang.*;
class MOHAN_BERA
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.println("enter the lenth of array:");
int num1=s.nextInt();
int[] num2=new int[num1];
System.out.println("enter the numbers of array:");
for(int i=0;i<num1;i++)
{
num2[i]=s.nextInt();
}
Arrays.sort(num2);//sort the array
long max1=num2[num1-1]*num2[num1-2]*num2[num1-3];//Three last numbers, can be three positive numbers
long max2=num2[num1-1]*num2[0]*num2[1];//last numbers and first two numbers,can be first two negetive and last one positive numbers
long max3=num2[0]*num2[1]*num2[2];//for all negetives numbers
long max=max1;//max1 greatest
if(max<max2 && max3<max2) //max2 greatest
{
max=max2;
}
else if(max<max3 && max2<max3)//max3 greatest
{
max=max3;
}
System.out.println(max);
}
}

in JavaScript
function largestProduct(ints) {
ints.sort((a, b) => b - a);
return ints[0] * ints[1] * ints[2];
}

Language - C#
Greedy Approach
Time Complexity O(n)
public static int GetHighestProductOfThree(int[] arrayOfInts)
{
if (arrayOfInts.Length < 3)
{
throw new ArgumentException("Array should be atleast 3 items", nameof(arrayOfInts));
}
int highest = Math.Max(arrayOfInts[0], arrayOfInts[1]);
int lowest = Math.Min(arrayOfInts[0], arrayOfInts[1]);
int highestProductOf2 = arrayOfInts[0] * arrayOfInts[1];
int lowestProductOf2 = arrayOfInts[0] * arrayOfInts[1];
int highestProductOf3 = arrayOfInts[0] * arrayOfInts[1] * arrayOfInts[2];
for (int i = 2; i < arrayOfInts.Length; i++)
{
int current = arrayOfInts[i];
highestProductOf3 = Math.Max(Math.Max(
highestProductOf3,
current * highestProductOf2),
current * lowestProductOf2);
highestProductOf2 = Math.Max(Math.Max(
highestProductOf2,
current * highest),
current * lowest);
lowestProductOf2 = Math.Min(Math.Min(
lowestProductOf2,
current * highest),
current * lowest);
highest = Math.Max(highest, current);
lowest = Math.Min(lowest, current);
}
return highestProductOf3;
}
Thanks to interviewcake.com
Detailed Explanation of this Algorithm

def solution(A):
if len(A) < 3:
return 0
A.sort()
product = A[len(A)-1] * A[len(A)-2] * A[len(A)-3]
if A[0] < 0 and A[1] < 0:
if A[0] * A[1] * A[len(A)-1] > product:
product = A[0] * A[1] * A[len(A)-1]
return product

Below is my solution in JavaScript:
function solution(A) {
A = A.sort((a, b) => b - a);
var product = A[0] * A[1] * A[2];
var length = A.length;
if (A[0] < 0) return product;
if (A[length - 1] * A[length - 2] * A[0] > product) {
return A[length - 1] * A[length - 2] * A[0];
}
if (A[2] < 0 && length >= 5 && A[3] * A[4] < A[0] * A[1]) {
return A[2] * A[3] * A[4];
}
return product;
}

This Solution is applicable only if there are 3 numbers needed. If It's dynamic or say user can ask for 4 or 5 then this solution is not suitable for it.
Without sorting you can achieve it by find out max 3 numbers from array and multiply 3 numbers, because max product requires max number from array.
public class FindOutProductPair {
public static void main(String args[]) {
int arr[]= {2,4,3,6,12,1};
// int arr1[]= {2,4,3,7,6,5,1};
// int arr1[]= {-1,-4,3,7,6,5,1};
int arr1[]= {3,2};
int max1=1,max2=1,max3=1;
for(int i=0;i<arr1.length;i++) {
if(max1 < arr1[i]) {
max3=max2;
max2=max1;
max1=arr1[i];
}else {
if(max2 < arr1[i]) {
max3=max2;
max2=arr1[i];
}
else {
if(max3< arr1[i]) {
max3=arr1[i];
}
}
}
}
System.out.println((max3+" "+max2+" "+max1)+" <-- "+(max3*max2*max1));
}
}

Could be like this in JAVA:
public final static int maxProizvedenieTrexChisel(Integer m []){
Arrays.sort(m,(g,g1)->g-g1);
System.out.println(Arrays.toString(m));
int mx1=m[0]*m[1]*m[2];
int mx2=m[m.length-1]*m[m.length-2]*m[m.length-3];
int mx3=m[0]*m[1]*m[m.length-1];
if(mx1>mx2&mx1>mx3)
return mx1;
else if(mx2>mx1&mx2>mx3)
return mx2;
return mx3;
}

could be solve using 5 variables with O(n) pass.
Max Product can be formed by either:
1. Max1 * Max2 * Max3
2. Max1 * Min1 * min2
where Max is maximum element and Min stands for minimum.
Here is my Java solution:
int maxProduct(int[] arr) {
int max1, max2, max3 = Integer.MIN_VALUE;
max1 = max3;
max2 = max3;
int min1 = Integer.MAX_VAULE;
int min2 = Integer.MAX_VAULE;
for(int n : arr) {
if (n <= min1) { // n is smaller than all
min2 = min1;
min1 = n;
} else if (n < min2) { // n lies between min1 and min2
min2 = n;
}
if (n >= max1) { // n is greater than all
max3 = max2;
max2 = max1;
max1 = n;
} else if (n >= max2) { // n lies betweeen max1 and max2
max3 = max2;
max2 = n;
} else if (n > max3) { // n lies betwen max2 and max3
max3 = n;
}
}
}

JavaScript code
function solution(A) {
if(A.length<3){
return 0;
}
let maxElement = Number.NEGATIVE_INFINITY;
let idx = null;
for(let i=0;i<A.length;i++){
if(A[i]>maxElement){
maxElement = A[i];
idx = i;
}
}
A.splice(idx,1);
A.sort((a,b)=>b-a);
let n = A.length;
let positiveMax = A[0]*A[1]*maxElement;
let negativeMax = A[n-1]*A[n-2]*maxElement;
return Math.max(positiveMax,negativeMax);
}

You can use inbuilt sort function of Javascript.Need to careful while finding max triplet product as in case of array with -ve numbers product will be combination first 2 and last and in case all +ve last 3 number product will be result.You can refer my jsfiddle. Also complexity of this algorithm is O(nlogn)
var arr=[-10, 3, 5, 6, -20];
function maxTripletProduct(data)
{
var sortedarr=data.sort(function(a,b){
return a-b;
})
console.log(sortedarr);
let length=sortedarr.length;
let product1 = sortedarr[length-3]*sortedarr[length-2]*sortedarr[length-1]
let product2=sortedarr[0]*sortedarr[1]*sortedarr[length-1];
if(product2>product1)
console.log(product2);
else
console.log(product1);
}
maxTripletProduct(arr);

generating Variations without repetitions / Permutations in java

I have to generate all variations without repetitions made of digits 0 - 9.
Length of them could be from 1 to 10. I really don't know how to solve it, especially how to avoid repetitions.
Example:
length of variations: 4
random variations: 9856, 8753, 1243, 1234 etc. (but not 9985 - contains repetition)
Can you please help me? Or can you give me the code?

The keyword to look for is permutation. There is an abundance of source code freely available that performs them.
As for keeping it repetition free I suggest a simple recursive approach: for each digit you have a choice of taking it into your variation or not, so your recursion counts through the digits and forks into two recursive calls, one in which the digit is included, one in which it is excluded. Then, after you reached the last digit each recursion essentially gives you a (unique, sorted) list of repetition-free digits. You can then create all possible permutations of this list and combine all of those permutations to achieve your final result.
(Same as duffymo said: I won't supply code for that)
Advanced note: the recursion is based on 0/1 (exclusion, inclusion) which can directly be translated to bits, hence, integer numbers. Therefore, in order to get all possible digit combinations without actually performing the recursion itself you could simply use all 10-bit integer numbers and iterate through them. Then interpret the numbers such that a set bit corresponds to including the digit in the list that needs to be permuted.

Here is my Java code. Feel free to ask if you don't understand. The main point here is:
sort again character array. for example: a1 a2 a3 b1 b2 b3 .... (a1 = a2 = a3)
generate permutation and always keep condition: index of a1 < index of a2 < index of a3 ...
import java.util.Arrays;
public class PermutationDup {
public void permutation(String s) {
char[] original = s.toCharArray();
Arrays.sort(original);
char[] clone = new char[s.length()];
boolean[] mark = new boolean[s.length()];
Arrays.fill(mark, false);
permute(original, clone, mark, 0, s.length());
}
private void permute(char[] original, char[] clone, boolean[] mark, int length, int n) {
if (length == n) {
System.out.println(clone);
return;
}
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
if (mark[i] == true) continue;
// dont use this state. to keep order of duplicate character
if (i > 0 && original[i] == original[i-1] && mark[i-1] == false) continue;
mark[i] = true;
clone[length] = original[i];
permute(original, clone, mark, length+1, n);
mark[i] = false;
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
PermutationDup p = new PermutationDup();
p.permutation("abcab");
}
}

I have created the following code for generating permutations where ordering is important and with no repetition. It makes use of generics for permuting any type of object:
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Collection;
import java.util.HashSet;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Set;
public class Permutations {
public static <T> Collection<List<T>> generatePermutationsNoRepetition(Set<T> availableNumbers) {
Collection<List<T>> permutations = new HashSet<>();
for (T number : availableNumbers) {
Set<T> numbers = new HashSet<>(availableNumbers);
numbers.remove(number);
if (!numbers.isEmpty()) {
Collection<List<T>> childPermutations = generatePermutationsNoRepetition(numbers);
for (List<T> childPermutation : childPermutations) {
List<T> permutation = new ArrayList<>();
permutation.add(number);
permutation.addAll(childPermutation);
permutations.add(permutation);
}
} else {
List<T> permutation = new ArrayList<>();
permutation.add(number);
permutations.add(permutation);
}
}
return permutations;
}
}

Imagine you had a magical function - given an array of digits, it will return you the correct permutations.
How can you use that function to produce a new list of permutations with just one extra digit?
e.g.,
if i gave you a function called permute_three(char[3] digits), and i tell you that it only works for digits 0, 1, 2, how can you write a function that can permute 0, 1, 2, 3, using the given permute_three function?
...
once you solved that, what do you notice? can you generalize it?

using Dollar it is simple:
#Test
public void generatePermutations() {
// digits is the string "0123456789"
String digits = $('0', '9').join();
// then generate 10 permutations
for (int i : $(10)) {
// shuffle, the cut (0, 4) in order to get a 4-char permutation
System.out.println($(digits).shuffle().slice(4));
}
}

The code for this is similar to the one without duplicates, with the addition of an if-else statement.Check this code
In the above code,Edit the for loop as follows
for (j = i; j <= n; j++)
{
if(a[i]!=a[j] && !is_duplicate(a,i,j))
{
swap((a+i), (a+j));
permute(a, i+1, n);
swap((a+i), (a+j));
}
else if(i!=j) {} // if no duplicate is present , do nothing
else permute(a,i+1,n); // skip the ith character
}
bool is_duplicate(int *a,int i,int j)
{
if a[i] is present between a[j]...a[i]
return 1;
otherwise
return 0;
}
worked for me

Permutation without repetition is based on theorem, that amount of results is factorial of count of elements (in this case numbers). In your case 10! is 10*9*8*7*6*5*4*3*2*1 = 3628800. The proof why it is exactly right is right solution for generation also.
Well so how. On first position i.e. from left you can have 10 numbers, on the second position you can have only 9 numbers, because one number is on the position on the left and we cannot repeat the same number etc. (the proof is done by mathematical induction).
So how to generate first ten results? According my knowledges, he simplest way is to use cyclic shift. It means the order of number shift to the left on one position (or right if you want) and the number which overflow to put on the empty place.
It means for first ten results:
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 10
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 10 9
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 10 9 8
6 5 4 3 2 1 10 9 8 7
5 4 3 2 1 10 9 8 7 6
...
The first line is basic sample, so it is the good idea to put it into set before generation. Advantage is, that in the next step you will have to solve the same problem to avoid undesirable duplicities.
In next step recursively rotate only 10-1 numbers 10-1 times etc.
It means for first 9 results in step two:
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
10 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 9
10 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 9 8
10 6 5 4 3 2 1 9 8 7
10 5 4 3 2 1 9 8 7 6
...
etc, notice, that first line is present from previous step, so it must not be added to generated set again.
Algorithm recursively doing exactly that, what is explained above. It is possible to generate all the 3628800 combinations for 10!, because number of nesting is the same as number of elements in array (it means in your case for 10 numbers it lingers about 5min. on my computer) and you need have enough memory if you want to keep all combinations in array.
There is solution.
package permutation;
/** Class for generation amount of combinations (factorial)
* !!! this is generate proper permutations without repeating and proper amount (počet) of rows !!!
*
* #author hariprasad
*/
public class TestForPermutationII {
private static final String BUMPER = "*";
private static int counter = 0;
private static int sumsum = 0;
// definitoin of array for generation
//int[] testsimple = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10};
int[] testsimple = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};
private int ELEMNUM = testsimple.length;
int[][] shuff;
private String gaps(int len) {
String addGap = "";
for(int i=0; i <len; i++)
addGap += " ";
return addGap;
}
/** Factorial computing */
private int fact(int num) {
if (num > 1) {
return num * fact(num - 1);
} else {
return 1;
}
}
/** Cyclic shift position to the left */
private int[] lShiftPos(int[] arr, int pos) {
int[] work = new int[ELEMNUM];
int offset = -1;
for (int jj = 0; jj < arr.length; jj++) {
if (jj < pos) {
work[jj] = arr[jj];
} else if (jj <= arr.length - 1) {
if (jj == pos) {
offset = arr[pos]; // last element
}
if (jj != (arr.length - 1)) {
work[jj] = arr[jj + 1];
} else {
work[jj] = offset;
}
}
}
return work;
}
private String printBuff(int[] buffer) {
String res = "";
for (int i= 0; i < buffer.length; i++) {
if (i == 0)
res += buffer[i];
else
res += ", " + buffer[i];
}
return res;
};
/** Recursive generator for arbitrary length of array */
private String permutationGenerator(int pos, int level) {
String ret = BUMPER;
int templen = counter;
int[] work = new int[ELEMNUM];
int locsumread = 0;
int locsumnew = 0;
//System.out.println("\nCalled level: " + level);
for (int i = 0; i <= templen; i++) {
work = shuff[i];
sumsum++;
locsumread++;
for (int ii = 0; ii < pos; ii++) {
counter++;
sumsum++;
locsumnew++;
work = lShiftPos(work, level); // deep copy
shuff[counter] = work;
}
}
System.out.println("locsumread, locsumnew: " + locsumread + ", " + locsumnew);
// if level == ELEMNUM-2, it means no another shift
if (level < ELEMNUM-2) {
ret = permutationGenerator(pos-1, level+1);
ret = "Level " + level + " end.";
//System.out.println(ret);
}
return ret;
}
public static void main(String[] argv) {
TestForPermutationII test = new TestForPermutationII();
counter = 0;
int len = test.testsimple.length;
int[] work = new int[len];
test.shuff = new int[test.fact(len)][];
//initial
test.shuff[counter] = test.testsimple;
work = test.testsimple; // shalow copy
test.shuff = new int[test.fact(len)][];
counter = 0;
test.shuff[counter] = test.testsimple;
test.permutationGenerator(len-1, 0);
for (int i = 0; i <= counter; i++) {
System.out.println(test.printBuff(test.shuff[i]));
}
System.out.println("Counter, cycles: " + counter + ", " + sumsum);
}
}
Intensity (number of cycles) of algorithm is sum of incomplete factorials of number of members. So there is overhang when partial set is again read to generate next subset, so intensity is:
n! + n!/2! + n!/3! + ... + n!/(n-2)! + n!(n-1)!

There is one solution which is not from mine, but it is very nice and sophisticated.
package permutations;
import java.util.HashSet;
import java.util.LinkedList;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Set;
/**
* #author Vladimir Hajek
*
*/
public class PermutationSimple {
private static final int MAX_NUMBER = 3;
Set<String> results = new HashSet<>(0);
/**
*
*/
public PermutationSimple() {
// TODO Auto-generated constructor stub
}
/**
* #param availableNumbers
* #return
*/
public static List<String> generatePermutations(Set<Integer> availableNumbers) {
List<String> permutations = new LinkedList<>();
for (Integer number : availableNumbers) {
Set<Integer> numbers = new HashSet<>(availableNumbers);
numbers.remove(number);
if (!numbers.isEmpty()) {
List<String> childPermutations = generatePermutations(numbers);
for (String childPermutation : childPermutations) {
String permutation = number + childPermutation;
permutations.add(permutation);
}
} else {
permutations.add(number.toString());
}
}
return permutations;
}
/**
* #param args
*/
public static void main(String[] args) {
Set<Integer> availableNumbers = new HashSet<>(0);
for (int i = 1; i <= MAX_NUMBER; i++) {
availableNumbers.add(i);
}
List<String> permutations = generatePermutations(availableNumbers);
for (String permutation : permutations) {
System.out.println(permutation);
}
}
}
I think, this is the excellent solution.

Brief helpful permutation indexing Knowledge
Create a method that generates the correct permutation, given an index value between {0 and N! -1} for "zero indexed" or {1 and N!} for "one indexed".
Create a second method containing a "for loop" where the lower bound is 1 and the upper bound is N!. eg.. "for (i; i <= N!; i++)" for every instance of the loop call the first method, passing i as the argument.

def find(alphabet, alpha_current, str, str_current, max_length, acc):
if (str_current == max_length):
acc.append(''.join(str))
return
for i in range(alpha_current, len(alphabet)):
str[str_current] = alphabet[i]
alphabet[i], alphabet[alpha_current] = alphabet[alpha_current], alphabet[i]
find(alphabet, alpha_current+1, str, str_current+1, max_length, acc)
alphabet[i], alphabet[alpha_current] = alphabet[alpha_current], alphabet[i]
return
max_length = 4
str = [' ' for i in range(max_length)]
acc = list()
find(list('absdef'), 0, str, 0, max_length, acc)
for i in range(len(acc)):
print(acc[i])
print(len(acc))