702875. Drive the car
Easy
Drive the Car
Slug: drive-the-car2541
Difficulty: Easy
Id: 702875
Topic Tags: Arrays, Data Structures
Company Tags: None
Summary
Drive the car is a classic problem that involves driving a car for a certain distance. You are given an array of integers where each integer represents the number of miles you can drive your car without stopping to refuel. Your task is to determine how many times you need to refill your gas tank in order to cover a certain distance.
Detailed Explanation
The algorithmic approach to this problem involves iterating through the array and calculating the total distance covered so far. We also keep track of the current number of miles left to drive and compare it with the maximum range of our car. If we can't cover the remaining distance, we know that we need to refill our gas tank.
Here's a step-by-step breakdown of the solution:
- Initialize a variable
total_distance_coveredto 0. - Iterate through the array of integers (representing the number of miles you can drive without stopping to refuel).
- For each integer, calculate the total distance covered so far by adding the current integer value to
total_distance_covered. - Check if we have enough gas left to cover the remaining distance. If not, increment a variable
num_refillsand resettotal_distance_coveredto 0. - Repeat steps 2-4 until you've covered the total distance.
Optimized Solutions
Java
public int driveTheCar(int[] gasStation) {
int totalDistanceCovered = 0;
int numRefills = 0;
for (int i : gasStation) {
totalDistanceCovered += i;
if (totalDistanceCovered > 1000) { // adjust this threshold as per your requirement
totalDistanceCovered = 0;
numRefills++;
}
}
return numRefills;
}