Decrease Elements To Make Array Zigzag in Python


Suppose we have an array nums of integers, a move operation is actually choosing any element and decreasing it by 1. An array A is a zigzag array if either 1 or 2 is satisfied −

  • Every even-indexed element is greater than adjacent elements, So. A[0] > A[1] < A[2] > A[3] < A[4] > ... and so on.

  • Every odd-indexed element is greater than adjacent elements, So. A[0] < A[1] > A[2] < A[3] > A[4] < ... and so on.

We have to find the minimum number of moves to transform the given array nums into a zigzag array.

So if the array is like [1,2,3], then the output will be 2, as we can decrease 2 to 0 or 3 to 1

To solve this, we will follow these steps −

  • Define a method called solve(), this will take nums and start, this will work as below −

  • k := 0

  • for i in range start to length of nums, increase by 2

    • left := 100000 when i – 1 < 0, otherwise nums[i - 1]

    • right := 100000 when i + 1 >= length of nums, otherwise nums[i + 1]

    • temp := (minimum of left and right) – 1 – nums[i]

    • if temp < 0, then k := k + |temp|

  • return k

  • In the main method, it will be

  • ans := solve(nums, 0)

  • ans := minimum of ans and solve(nums, 1)

  • return ans

Example(Python)

Let us see the following implementation to get a better understanding −

 Live Demo

class Solution(object):
   def solve(self,nums,start):
      k = 0
      for i in range(start,len(nums),2):
         left = 100000 if i-1<0 else nums[i-1]
         right = 10000 if i+1>=len(nums) else nums[i+1]
         temp= (min(left,right)-1 - nums[i])
         if temp<0:
            k+=abs(temp)
      return k
   def movesToMakeZigzag(self, nums):
      ans = self.solve(nums,0)
      ans = min(ans,self.solve(nums,1))
      return ans
ob = Solution()
print(ob.movesToMakeZigzag([1,2,3]))

Input

[1,2,3]

Output

2

Updated on: 30-Apr-2020

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