Best Algorithm to distribute n elements to x groups - algorithm

What is the best way to distribute n items (say 2 up to 100) into x groups.
Each group should have about the same amount of items in it.
Easy example would be n=100; x=2;
100/2 = 50 items per group
What if we've got floating numbers involved, like n=100; x=3;
100/3 = 33.33
We would need two groups nesting 33 items and one group nesting 34.
Another example: n=8; x=3
8/3 = 2.66
Any suggestions on how to tackle this?
Not that it matters, but just for curious minds, the usecase:
In my UI im trying to divide tabstripes into multiple rows, only showing one row at a time, so that if all the tabstripes don't fit into one row we can distribute them programmatically.
Looking forward to your answers!

After distributing floor(n / x) items over x groups you're left with n mod x = n - floor(n / x) * x items, that's a value in [0, x). You can easily add 1 to each group i=1..x with i <= n mod x.
for i=1..x
group[i] <- floor(n / x) + (i <= n mod x ? 1 : 0)
this is the same as
for i=1..(n mod x)
group[i] <- ceil(n / x)
for i=(n mod x + 1)..x
group[i] <- floor(n / x)
E.g. n = 11, x = 3 you'll end up with:
group[1] <- 3 + (1 <= 2 ? 1 : 0) = 4
group[2] <- 3 + (2 <= 2 ? 1 : 0) = 4
group[3] <- 3 + (3 <= 2 ? 1 : 0) = 3

Assuming that your groups are in some form of arrays indexed from 0 with 'groupCount' groups, a simple distribution "by rows" would be something like:
g = 0
for each element e
allocate e to group groups[g]
g++
g = (g % groupCount)
If the allocation to a group one element at a time is too slow, it can be faster to allocate 'by columns'. Assuming that the counters 'remainingElements' and 'remainingGroups' are initialized appropriately, it would look like:
for each group g
size = floor(remainingElements / remainingGroups)
allocate size elements to group g
remainingElements = remainingElements - size
--remainingGroups

Related

Efficient algorithm to find the n-th digit in the string 112123123412345

What is an efficient algorithm for finding the digit in nth position in the following string
112123123412345123456 ... 123456789101112 ...
Storing the entire string in memory is not feasible for very large n, so I am looking for an algorithm that can find the nth digit in the above string which works if n is very large (i.e. an alternative to just generating the first n digits of the string).
There are several levels here: the digit is part of a number x, the number x is part of a sequence 1,2,3...x...y and that sequence is part of a block of sequences that lead up to numbers like y that have z digits. We'll tackle these levels one by one.
There are 9 numbers with 1 digit:
first: 1 (sequence length: 1 * 1)
last: 9 (sequence length: 9 * 1)
average sequence length: (1 + 9) / 2 = 5
1-digit block length: 9 * 5 = 45
There are 90 numbers with 2 digits:
first: 10 (sequence length: 9 * 1 + 1 * 2)
last: 99 (sequence length: 9 * 1 + 90 * 2)
average sequence length: 9 + (2 + 180) / 2 = 100
2-digit block length: 90 * 100 = 9000
There are 900 numbers with 3 digits:
first: 100 (sequence length: 9 * 1 + 90 * 2 + 1 * 3)
last: 999 (sequence length: 9 * 1 + 90 * 2 + 900 * 3)
average sequence length: 9 + 180 + (3 + 2,700) / 2 = 1,540.5
3-digit block length: 900 * 1,540.5 = 1,386,450
If you continue to calculate these values, you'll find which block (of sequences up to how many digits) the digit you're looking for is in, and you'll know the start and end point of this block.
Say you want the millionth digit. You find that it's in the 3-digit block, and that this block is located in the total sequence at:
start of 3-digit block: 45 + 9,000 + = 9,045
start of 4-digit block: 45 + 9,000 + 1,386,450 = 1,395,495
So in this block we're looking for digit number:
1,000,000 - 9,045 = 990,955
Now you can use e.g. a binary search to find which sequence the 990,955th digit is in; you start with the 3-digit number halfway in the 3-digit block:
first: 100 (sequence length: 9 + 180 + 1 * 3)
number: 550 (sequence length: 9 + 180 + 550 * 3)
average sequence length: 9 + 180 + (3 + 1650) / 2 = 1,015.5
total sequence length: 550 * 1,015.5 = 558,525
Which is too small; so we try 550 * 3/4 = 825, see if that is too small or large, and go up or down in increasingly smaller steps until we know which sequence the 990,995th digit is in.
Say it's in the sequence for the number n; then we calculate the total length of all 3-digit sequences up to n-1, and this will give us the location of the digit we're looking for in the sequence for the number n. Then we can use the numbers 9*1, 90*2, 900*3 ... to find which number the digit is in, and then what the digit is.
We have three types of structures that we would like to be able to search on, (1) the sequence of concatenating d-digit numbers, for example, single digit:
123456...
or 3-digit:
100101102103
(2) the rows in a section,
where each section builds on the previous section added to a prefix. For example, section 1:
1
12
123
...
or section 3:
1234...10111213...100
1234...10111213...100102
1234...10111213...100102103
<----- prefix ----->
and (3) the full sections, although the latter we can just enumerate since they grow exponentially and help build our section prefixes. For (1), we can use simple division if we know the digit count; for (2), we can binary search.
Here's Python code that also answers the big ones:
def getGreatest(n, d, prefix):
rows = 9 * 10**(d - 1)
triangle = rows * (d + rows * d) // 2
l = 0
r = triangle
while l < r:
mid = l + ((r - l) >> 1)
triangle = mid * prefix + mid * (d + mid * d) // 2
prevTriangle = (mid-1) * prefix + (mid-1) * (d + (mid-1) * d) // 2
nextTriangle = (mid+1) * prefix + (mid+1) * (d + (mid+1) * d) // 2
if triangle >= n:
if prevTriangle < n:
return prevTriangle
else:
r = mid - 1
else:
if nextTriangle >= n:
return triangle
else:
l = mid
return l * prefix + l * (d + l * d) // 2
def solve(n):
debug = 1
d = 0
p = 0.1
prefixes = [0]
sections = [0]
while sections[d] < n:
d += 1
p *= 10
rows = int(9 * p)
triangle = rows * (d + rows * d) // 2
section = rows * prefixes[d-1] + triangle
sections.append(sections[d-1] + section)
prefixes.append(prefixes[d-1] + rows * d)
section = sections[d - 1]
if debug:
print("section: %s" % section)
n = n - section
rows = getGreatest(n, d, prefixes[d - 1])
if debug:
print("rows: %s" % rows)
n = n - rows
d = 1
while prefixes[d] < n:
d += 1;
if prefixes[d] == n:
return 9;
prefix = prefixes[d - 1]
if debug:
print("prefix: %s" % prefix)
n -= prefix
if debug:
print((n, d, prefixes, sections))
countDDigitNums = n // d
remainder = n % d
prev = 10**(d - 1) - 1
num = prev + countDDigitNums
if debug:
print("num: %s" % num)
if remainder:
return int(str(num + 1)[remainder - 1])
else:
s = str(num);
return int(s[len(s) - 1])
ns = [
1, # 1
2, # 1
3, # 2
100, # 1
2100, # 2
31000, # 2
999999999999999999, # 4
1000000000000000000, # 1
999999999999999993, # 7
]
for n in ns:
print(n)
print(solve(n))
print('')
Well, you have a series of sequences each increasing by a single number.
If you have "x" of them, then the sequences up to that point occupy x * (x + 1) / 2 character positions. Or, another way of saying this is that the "x"s sequence starts at x * (x - 1) / 2 (assuming zero-based indexing). These are called triangular numbers.
So, all you need to do is to find the "x" value where the cumulative amount is closest to a given "n". Here are three ways:
Search for a closed from solution. This exists, but the formula is rather complicated. (Here is one reference for the sum of triangular numbers.)
Pre-calculate a table in memory with values up to, say, 1,000,000. that will get you to 10^10 sizes.
Use a "binary" search and the formula. So, generate the sequence of values for 1, 2, 4, 8, and so on and then do a binary search to find the exact sequence.
Once you know the sequence where the value lies, determining the value is simply a matter of arithmetic.

Finding natural numbers having n Trailing Zeroes in Factorial

I need help with the following problem.
Given an integer m, I need to find the number of positive integers n and the integers, such that the factorial of n ends with exactly m zeroes.
I wrote this code it works fine and i get the right output, but it take way too much time as the numbers increase.
a = input()
while a:
x = []
m, n, fact, c, j = input(), 0, 1, 0, 0
z = 10*m
t = 10**m
while z - 1:
fact = 1
n = n + 1
for i in range(1, n + 1):
fact = fact * i
if fact % t == 0 and ((fact / t) % 10) != 0:
x.append(int(n))
c = c + 1
z = z - 1
for p in range(c):
print x[p],
a -= 1
print c
Could someone suggest me a more efficient way to do this. Presently, it takes 30 seconds for a test case asking for numbers with 250 trailing zeros in its factorial.
Thanks
To get number of trailing zeroes of n! efficiently you can put
def zeroes(value):
result = 0;
d = 5;
while (d <= value):
result += value // d; # integer division
d *= 5;
return result;
...
# 305: 1234! has exactly 305 trailing zeroes
print zeroes(1234)
In order to solve the problem (what numbers have n trailing zeroes in n!) you can use these facts:
number of zeroes is a monotonous function: f(x + a) >= f(x) if a >= 0.
if f(x) = y then x <= y * 5 (we count only 5 factors).
if f(x) = y then x >= y * 4 (let me leave this for you to prove)
Then implement binary search (on monotonous function).
E.g. in case of 250 zeroes we have the initial range to test [4*250..5*250] == [1000..1250]. Binary search narrows the range down into [1005..1009].
1005, 1006, 1007, 1008, 1009 are all numbers such that they have exactly 250 trainling zeroes in factorial
Edit I hope I don't spoil the fun if I (after 2 years) prove the last conjecture (see comments below):
Each 5**n within facrtorial when multiplied by 2**n produces 10**n and thus n zeroes; that's why f(x) is
f(x) = [x / 5] + [x / 25] + [x / 125] + ... + [x / 5**n] + ...
where [...] stands for floor or integer part (e.g. [3.1415926] == 3). Let's perform easy manipulations:
f(x) = [x / 5] + [x / 25] + [x / 125] + ... + [x / 5**n] + ... <= # removing [...]
x / 5 + x / 25 + x / 125 + ... + x / 5**n + ... =
x * (1/5 + 1/25 + 1/125 + ... + 1/5**n + ...) =
x * (1/5 * 1/(1 - 1/5)) =
x * 1/5 * 5/4 =
x / 4
So far so good
f(x) <= x / 4
Or if y = f(x) then x >= 4 * y Q.E.D.
Focus on the number of 2s and 5s that makes up a number. e.g. 150 is made up of 2*3*5*5, there 1 pair of 2&5 so there's one trailing zero. Each time you increase the tested number, try figuring out how much 2 and 5s are in the number. From that, adding up previous results you can easily know how much zeros its factorial contains.
For example, 15!=15*...*5*4*3*2*1, starting from 2:
Number 2s 5s trailing zeros of factorial
2 1 0 0
3 1 0 0
4 2 0 0
5 2 1 1
6 3 1 1
...
10 5 2 2
...
15 7 3 3
..
24 12 6 6
25 12 8 8 <- 25 counts for two 5-s: 25 == 5 * 5 == 5**2
26 13 8 8
..
Refer to Peter de Rivaz's and Dmitry Bychenko's comments, they have got some good advices.

Number of ways of distributing n identical balls into groups such that each group has atleast k balls?

I am trying to do this using recursion with memoization ,I have identified the following base cases .
I) when n==k there is only one group with all the balls.
II) when k>n then no groups can have atleast k balls,hence zero.
I am unable to move forward from here.How can this be done?
As an illustration when n=6 ,k=2
(2,2,2)
(4,2)
(3,3)
(6)
That is 4 different groupings can be formed.
This can be represented by the two dimensional recursive formula described below:
T(0, k) = 1
T(n, k) = 0 n < k, n != 0
T(n, k) = T(n-k, k) + T(n, k + 1)
^ ^
There is a box with k balls, No box with k balls, advance to next k
put them
In the above, T(n,k) is the number of distributions of n balls such that each box gets at least k.
And the trick is to think of k as the lowest possible number of balls, and seperate the problem to two scenarios: Is there a box with exactly k balls (if so, place them and recurse with n-k balls), or not (and then, recurse with minimal value of k+1, and same number of balls).
Example, to calculate your example: T(6,2) (6 balls, minimum 2 per box):
T(6,2) = T(4,2) + T(6,3)
T(4,2) = T(2,2) + T(4,3) = T(0,2) + T(2,3) + T(1,3) + T(4,4) =
= T(0,2) + T(2,3) + T(1,3) + T(0,4) + T(4,5) =
= 1 + 0 + 0 + 1 + 0
= 2
T(6,3) = T(3,3) + T(6,4) = T(0,3) + T(3,4) + T(2,4) + T(6,5)
= T(0,3) + T(3,4) + T(2,4) + T(1,5) + T(6,6) =
= T(0,3) + T(3,4) + T(2,4) + T(1,5) + T(0,6) + T(6,7) =
= 1 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 1 + 0
= 2
T(6,2) = T(4,2) + T(6,3) = 2 + 2 = 4
Using Dynamic Programming, it can be calculated in O(n^2) time.
This case can be solved pretty simple:
Number of buckets
The maximum-number of buckets b can be determined as follows:
b = roundDown(n / k)
Each valid distribution can use at most b buckets.
Number of distributions with x buckets
For a given number of buckets the number of distribution can be found pretty simple:
Distribute k balls to each bucket. Find the number of ways to distribute the remaining balls (r = n - k * x) to x buckets:
total_distributions(x) = bincoefficient(x , n - k * x)
EDIT: this will onyl work, if order matters. Since it doesn't for the question, we can use a few tricks here:
Each distribution can be mapped to a sequence of numbers. E.g.: d = {d1 , d2 , ... , dx}. We can easily generate all of these sequences starting with the "first" sequence {r , 0 , ... , 0} and subsequently moving 1s from the left to the right. So the next sequence would look like this: {r - 1 , 1 , ... , 0}. If only sequences matching d1 >= d2 >= ... >= dx are generated, no duplicates will be generated. This constraint can easily be used to optimize this search a bit: We can only move a 1 from da to db (with a = b - 1), if da - 1 >= db + 1 is given, since otherwise the constraint that the array is sorted is violated. The 1s to move are always the rightmost that can be moved. Another way to think of this would be to view r as a unary number and simply split that string into groups such that each group is atleast as long as it's successor.
countSequences(x)
sequence[]
sequence[0] = r
sequenceCount = 1
while true
int i = findRightmostMoveable(sequence)
if i == -1
return sequenceCount
sequence[i] -= 1
sequence[i + 1] -= 1
sequenceCount
findRightmostMoveable(sequence)
for i in [length(sequence) - 1 , 0)
if sequence[i - 1] > sequence[i] + 1
return i - 1
return -1
Actually findRightmostMoveable could be optimized a bit, if we look at the structure-transitions of the sequence (to be more precise the difference between two elements of the sequence). But to be honest I'm by far too lazy to optimize this further.
Putting the pieces together
range(1 , roundDown(n / k)).map(b -> countSequences(b)).sum()

How to check divisibility of a number not in base 10 without converting?

Let's say I have a number of base 3, 1211. How could I check this number is divisible by 2 without converting it back to base 10?
Update
The original problem is from TopCoder
The digits 3 and 9 share an interesting property. If you take any multiple of 3 and sum its digits, you get another multiple of 3. For example, 118*3 = 354 and 3+5+4 = 12, which is a multiple of 3. Similarly, if you take any multiple of 9 and sum its digits, you get another multiple of 9. For example, 75*9 = 675 and 6+7+5 = 18, which is a multiple of 9. Call any digit for which this property holds interesting, except for 0 and 1, for which the property holds trivially.
A digit that is interesting in one base is not necessarily interesting in another base. For example, 3 is interesting in base 10 but uninteresting in base 5. Given an int base, your task is to return all the interesting digits for that base in increasing order. To determine whether a particular digit is interesting or not, you need not consider all multiples of the digit. You can be certain that, if the property holds for all multiples of the digit with fewer than four digits, then it also holds for multiples with more digits. For example, in base 10, you would not need to consider any multiples greater than 999.
Notes
- When base is greater than 10, digits may have a numeric value greater than 9. Because integers are displayed in base 10 by default, do not be alarmed when such digits appear on your screen as more than one decimal digit. For example, one of the interesting digits in base 16 is 15.
Constraints
- base is between 3 and 30, inclusive.
This is my solution:
class InterestingDigits {
public:
vector<int> digits( int base ) {
vector<int> temp;
for( int i = 2; i <= base; ++i )
if( base % i == 1 )
temp.push_back( i );
return temp;
}
};
The trick was well explained here : https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/17242/how-does-base-of-a-number-relate-to-modulos-of-its-each-individual-digit
Thanks,
Chan
If your number k is in base three, then you can write it as
k = a0 3^n + a1 3^{n-1} + a2 3^{n-2} + ... + an 3^0
where a0, a1, ..., an are the digits in the base-three representation.
To see if the number is divisible by two, you're interested in whether the number, modulo 2, is equal to zero. Well, k mod 2 is given by
k mod 2 = (a0 3^n + a1 3^{n-1} + a2 3^{n-2} + ... + an 3^0) mod 2
= (a0 3^n) mod 2 + (a1 3^{n-1}) mod 2 + ... + an (3^0) mod 2
= (a0 mod 2) (3^n mod 2) + ... + (an mod 2) (3^0 mod 2)
The trick here is that 3^i = 1 (mod 2), so this expression is
k mod 2 = (a0 mod 2) + (a1 mod 2) + ... + (an mod 2)
In other words, if you sum up the digits of the ternary representation and get that this value is divisible by two, then the number itself must be divisible by two. To make this even cooler, since the only ternary digits are 0, 1, and 2, this is equivalent to asking whether the number of 1s in the ternary representation is even!
More generally, though, if you have a number in base m, then that number is divisible by m - 1 iff the sum of the digits is divisible by m. This is why you can check if a number in base 10 is divisible by 9 by summing the digits and seeing if that value is divisible by nine.
You can always build a finite automaton for any base and any divisor:
Normally to compute the value n of a string of digits in base b
you iterate over the digits and do
n = (n * b) + d
for each digit d.
Now if you are interested in divisibility you do this modulo m instead:
n = ((n * b) + d) % m
Here n can take at most m different values. Take these as states of a finite automaton, and compute the transitions depending on the digit d according to that formula. The accepting state is the one where the remainder is 0.
For your specific case we have
n == 0, d == 0: n = ((0 * 3) + 0) % 2 = 0
n == 0, d == 1: n = ((0 * 3) + 1) % 2 = 1
n == 0, d == 2: n = ((0 * 3) + 2) % 2 = 0
n == 1, d == 0: n = ((1 * 3) + 0) % 2 = 1
n == 1, d == 1: n = ((1 * 3) + 1) % 2 = 0
n == 1, d == 2: n = ((1 * 3) + 2) % 2 = 1
which shows that you can just sum the digits 1 modulo 2 and ignore any digits 0 or 2.
Add all the digits together (or even just count the ones) - if the answer is odd, the number is odd; if it's even, the nmber is even.
How does that work? Each digit from the number contributes 0, 1 or 2 times (1, 3, 9, 27, ...). A 0 or a 2 adds an even number, so no effect on the oddness/evenness (parity) of the number as a whole. A 1 adds one of the powers of 3, which is always odd, and so flips the parity). And we start from 0 (even). So by counting whether the number of flips is odd or even we can tell whether the number itself is.
I'm not sure on what CPU you have a number in base-3, but the normal way to do this is to perform a modulus/remainder operation.
if (n % 2 == 0) {
// divisible by 2, so even
} else {
// odd
}
How to implement the modulus operator is going to depend on how you're storing your base-3 number. The simplest to code will probably be to implement normal pencil-and-paper long division, and get the remainder from that.
0 2 2 0
_______
2 ⟌ 1 2 1 1
0
---
1 2
1 1
-----
1 1
1 1
-----
0 1 <--- remainder = 1 (so odd)
(This works regardless of base, there are "tricks" for base-3 as others have mentioned)
Same as in base 10, for your example:
1. Find the multiple of 2 that's <= 1211, that's 1210 (see below how to achieve it)
2. Substract 1210 from 1211, you get 1
3. 1 is < 10, thus 1211 isn't divisible by 2
how to achieve 1210:
1. starts with 2
2. 2 + 2 = 11
3. 11 + 2 = 20
4. 20 + 2 = 22
5. 22 + 2 = 101
6. 101 + 2 = 110
7. 110 + 2 = 112
8. 112 + 2 = 121
9. 121 + 2 = 200
10. 200 + 2 = 202
... // repeat until you get the biggest number <= 1211
it's basically the same as base 10 it's just the round up happens on 3 instead of 10.

How to decompose an integer in two for grid creation

Given an integer N I want to find two integers A and B that satisfy A × B ≥ N with the following conditions:
The difference between A × B and N is as low as possible.
The difference between A and B is as low as possible (to approach a square).
Example: 23. Possible solutions 3 × 8, 6 × 4, 5 × 5. 6 × 4 is the best since it leaves just one empty space in the grid and is "less" rectangular than 3 × 8.
Another example: 21. Solutions 3 × 7 and 4 × 6. 3 × 7 is the desired one.
A brute force solution is easy. I would like to see if a clever solution is possible.
Easy.
In pseudocode
a = b = floor(sqrt(N))
if (a * b >= N) return (a, b)
a += 1
if (a * b >= N) return (a, b)
return (a, b+1)
and it will always terminate, the distance between a and b at most only 1.
It will be much harder if you relax second constraint, but that's another question.
Edit: as it seems that the first condition is more important, you have to attack the problem
a bit differently. You have to specify some method to measure the badness of not being square enough = 2nd condition, because even prime numbers can be factorized as 1*number, and we fulfill the first condition. Assume we have a badness function (say a >= b && a <= 2 * b), then factorize N and try different combinations to find best one. If there aren't any good enough, try with N+1 and so on.
Edit2: after thinking a bit more I come with this solution, in Python:
from math import sqrt
def isok(a, b):
"""accept difference of five - 2nd rule"""
return a <= b + 5
def improve(a, b, N):
"""improve result:
if a == b:
(a+1)*(b-1) = a^2 - 1 < a*a
otherwise (a - 1 >= b as a is always larger)
(a+1)*(b-1) = a*b - a + b - 1 =< a*b
On each iteration new a*b will be less,
continue until we can, or 2nd condition is still met
"""
while (a+1) * (b-1) >= N and isok(a+1, b-1):
a, b = a + 1, b - 1
return (a, b)
def decomposite(N):
a = int(sqrt(N))
b = a
# N is square, result is ok
if a * b >= N:
return (a, b)
a += 1
if a * b >= N:
return improve(a, b, N)
return improve(a, b+1, N)
def test(N):
(a, b) = decomposite(N)
print "%d decomposed as %d * %d = %d" % (N, a, b, a*b)
[test(x) for x in [99, 100, 101, 20, 21, 22, 23]]
which outputs
99 decomposed as 11 * 9 = 99
100 decomposed as 10 * 10 = 100
101 decomposed as 13 * 8 = 104
20 decomposed as 5 * 4 = 20
21 decomposed as 7 * 3 = 21
22 decomposed as 6 * 4 = 24
23 decomposed as 6 * 4 = 24
I think this may work (your conditions are somewhat ambiguous). this solution is somewhat similar to other one, in basically produces rectangular matrix which is almost square.
you may need to prove that A+2 is not optimal condition
A0 = B0 = ceil (sqrt N)
A1 = A0+1
B1 = B0-1
if A0*B0-N > A1*B1-N: return (A1,B1)
return (A0,B0)
this is solution if first condition is dominant (and second condition is not used)
A0 = B0 = ceil (sqrt N)
if A0*B0==N: return (A0,B0)
return (N,1)
Other conditions variations will be in between
A = B = ceil (sqrt N)

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