Codility - Lesson 16 Greedy algorithms - 1. TieRopes

Source Link: 
https://app.codility.com/programmers/lessons/16-greedy_algorithms/tie_ropes/

Question:

There are N ropes numbered from 0 to N − 1, whose lengths are given in a zero-indexed array A, lying on the floor in a line. For each I (0 ≤ I < N), the length of rope I on the line is A[I].

We say that two ropes I and I + 1 are adjacent. Two adjacent ropes can be tied together with a knot, and the length of the tied rope is the sum of lengths of both ropes. The resulting new rope can then be tied again.

For a given integer K, the goal is to tie the ropes in such a way that the number of ropes whose length is greater than or equal to K is maximal.

For example, consider K = 4 and array A such that:

A[0] = 1 A[1] = 2 A[2] = 3 A[3] = 4 A[4] = 1 A[5] = 1 A[6] = 3

The ropes are shown in the figure below.

We can tie:

• rope 1 with rope 2 to produce a rope of length A[1] + A[2] = 5;
• rope 4 with rope 5 with rope 6 to produce a rope of length A[4] + A[5] + A[6] = 5.

After that, there will be three ropes whose lengths are greater than or equal to K = 4. It is not possible to produce four such ropes.

Write a function:

class Solution { public int solution(int K, int[] A); }

that, given an integer K and a non-empty zero-indexed array A of N integers, returns the maximum number of ropes of length greater than or equal to K that can be created.

For example, given K = 4 and array A such that:

A[0] = 1 A[1] = 2 A[2] = 3 A[3] = 4 A[4] = 1 A[5] = 1 A[6] = 3

the function should return 3, as explained above.

Assume that:

• N is an integer within the range [1..100,000];
• K is an integer within the range [1..1,000,000,000];
• each element of array A is an integer within the range [1..1,000,000,000].

Complexity:

• expected worst-case time complexity is O(N);
• expected worst-case space complexity is O(N), beyond input storage (not counting the storage required for input arguments).

My Solution:
Notes: 
1. notice that only "adjacent ropes" can be tied
// so, the problem is simple; we can use "greedy" method
2. 
int total =0;
int currentLength=0;
3. 
if(currentLength >= K){
total++;
currentLength=0; // update
}
4. 
return total;