# Number of flips to make binary string alternate - Set 1 in C++

C++Server Side ProgrammingProgramming

Let's say you have given a binary string "10011". To make an alternate binary string, we need to flip a minimum of 2 characters as "10101".

There are two possibilities for the alternate string. It will start with 0 or 1. We will check for two alternates and count the number of flips required for both.

And then return the minimum of both. Let's see an example.

Input

binary = "10011"

Output

2


If we start the string with 0, then we have to flip 3 times. And if we start the string with 1, then we have to flip 2 times. The minimum is 2.

## Algorithm

• Initialise the binary string.
• Count the flips required to make string alternate starting with 1.
• Similarly count the flips required to make string alternate starting with 0.
• Find the minimum from the above two.
• Print the menimum.

## Implementation

Following is the implementation of the above algorithm in C++

#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
char flip(char binaryDigit) {
return binaryDigit == '0' ? '1' : '0';
}
int getFlipCountToAlternateString(string binary, char expected) {
int flipCount = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < binary.length(); i++) {
if (binary[i] != expected) {
flipCount++;
}
expected = flip(expected);
}
return flipCount;
}
int main() {
string binary = "10011";
cout << min(getFlipCountToAlternateString(binary, '0'), getFlipCountToAlternateString(binary,       '1')) << endl;
return 0;
}

## Output

If you run the above code, then you will get the following result.

2
Published on 03-Jul-2021 05:16:12