#1420

Build Array Where You Can Find The Maximum Exactly K Comparisons

Hard
Dynamic ProgrammingPrefix SumDynamic ProgrammingBacktracking
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Approaches

Brute ForceOptimal
Complexity Comparison
Brute ForceOptimal Solution
Time
O(m^n)
O(n * m * k)
Space
O(n)
O(n * m * k)
💡

Intuition

Time O(n * m * k)Space O(n * m * k)

The optimal approach uses dynamic programming to build a table that counts the number of valid arrays based on the current index, maximum value used, and the search cost. This avoids redundant calculations and efficiently computes the result.

⚙️

Algorithm

3 steps
  1. 1Step 1: Initialize a 3D DP table where dp[a][b][c] represents the number of ways to build the array starting from index a, with maximum value b, and search cost c.
  2. 2Step 2: Fill the DP table iteratively, considering each possible maximum value and updating the search cost based on whether the current maximum is used.
  3. 3Step 3: Sum up all valid configurations that result in the desired search cost k.
solution.py13 lines
1def countArrays(n, m, k):
2    MOD = 10**9 + 7
3    dp = [[[0] * (k + 1) for _ in range(m + 1)] for _ in range(n + 1)]
4    dp[0][0][0] = 1
5
6    for i in range(1, n + 1):
7        for max_val in range(1, m + 1):
8            for search_cost in range(k + 1):
9                dp[i][max_val][search_cost] = (dp[i - 1][max_val][search_cost] * max_val) % MOD
10                if search_cost > 0:
11                    dp[i][max_val][search_cost] = (dp[i][max_val][search_cost] + dp[i - 1][max_val][search_cost - 1]) % MOD
12
13    return dp[n][m][k]

Complexity note: The time complexity is O(n * m * k) because we fill a 3D DP table iterating through n, m, and k. The space complexity is also O(n * m * k) due to the storage of the DP table.

  • 1Dynamic programming can significantly reduce the time complexity by avoiding redundant calculations.
  • 2Understanding the relationship between the maximum value, index, and search cost is crucial.

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