Saturday, March 1, 2014

Maximum Binary Gap : O(log n) solution

binary gap within a positive integer N is any maximal sequence of consecutive zeros that is surrounded by ones at both ends in the binary representation of N.
For example, number 9 has binary representation 1001 and contains a binary gap of length 2. The number 529 has binary representation1000010001) and contains two binary gaps: one of length 4 and one of length 3. The number 20 has binary representation 10100 and contains one binary gap of length 1. The number 15 has binary representation 1111 and has no binary gaps.
Write a function:
class Solution { public int solution(int N); }
that, given a positive integer N, returns the length of its longest binary gap. The function should return 0 if N doesn't contain a binary gap.
For example, given N = 1041 the function should return 5, because N has binary representation 10000010001 and so its longest binary gap is of length 5.
Assume that:
·    N is an integer within the range [1..2,147,483,647].
Complexity:
expected worst-case time complexity is O(log(N));
expected worst-case space complexity is O(1).

// My perfect score solution
class Solution {
    public int solution(int N) {
        if(N < 1)
            return -1;    
        int res = 0;
        int gapLen = 0;
        boolean binGapStart = false;
        boolean gapZeroes = false;           
        while(N >= 1) {
            if(N%2 == 1) {
                binGapStart = binGapStart && gapZeroes;              
                if(binGapStart) {
                    res = (res > gapLen)? res:gapLen;
                    gapZeroes = false;
                    gapLen = 0;
                }
                else
                    binGapStart = true;
            }
            else{
                gapZeroes = binGapStart;
                if(gapZeroes)
                    gapLen++;
            }           
            N = N/2;
        }       
        return res;       
    }
}


Java Tidbidz 1: Access modifiers, Arrays

  • Access Modifiers - All members of interfaces are implicitly public. It is, in fact, a compile-time error to specify any access specifier for an interface member other than public (although no access specifier at all defaults to public access).
  • Array - Arrays are special objects in java with no "class definition" (no .class file).
  • Array.length [public final int variable], but String.length()

Java tidbidz 2: Abstract class and Interface

  • Interface variables static and final by default [interfaces cannot be instantiated in their own right; the value of the variable must be assigned in a static context in which no instance exists. The final modifier ensures the value assigned to the interface variable is a true constant that cannot be re-assigned by program code.]
  • We can have abstract class without abstract method but not abstract method in non-abstract class, because declaring a class abstract only means that you don't allow it to be instantiated on its own, while an abstract method must be defined by subclasses.
  • You can even have abstract classes with final methods but never final classes with abstract methods.