Program to find minimum changes required for alternating binary string in Python


Suppose we have a binary string s. Let us consider an operation where we can flip one bit. The string s is called alternating string if no two adjacent characters are same. We have to find the minimum number of operations needed to make s alternating.

So, if the input is like s = "11100011", then the output will be 3 because if we flip bits at position 1, 4 and 7, then, it will be "10101010", then all are alternating.

To solve this, we will follow these steps −

  • change := 0

  • even_1 := 0, even_0 := 0

  • odd_1 := 0, odd_0 := 0

  • for i in range 0 to size of s - 1, do

    • if i is even, then

      • if s[i] is same as '1', then

        • even_1 := even_1 + 1

      • otherwise,

        • even_0 := even_0 + 1

    • otherwise,

      • if s[i] is same as '1', then

        • odd_1 := odd_1 + 1

      • otherwise,

        • odd_0 := odd_0 + 1

  • if (even_1+odd_0) > (even_0+odd_1), then

    • change := even_0 + odd_1

  • otherwise,

    • change := even_1 + odd_0

  • return change

Example (Python)

Let us see the following implementation to get better understanding &minnus;

 Live Demo

def solve(s):
   change = 0
   even_1 = 0
   even_0 = 0
   odd_1 = 0
   odd_0 = 0
   for i in range(len(s)):
      if(i%2 == 0):
         if(s[i]=='1'):
            even_1 +=1
         else:
            even_0 +=1
      else:
         if(s[i] == '1'):
            odd_1 +=1
         else:
            odd_0 +=1
   if((even_1+odd_0)>(even_0+odd_1)):
      change = even_0 + odd_1
   else:
      change = even_1 + odd_0
   return change

s = "11100011"
print(solve(s))

Input

"11100011"

Output

3

Updated on: 18-May-2021

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