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gudii9Flag for United States of America

asked on

no14 challenge

Hi,

I am working on below challenge

http://codingbat.com/prob/p136648

Psedo code description of approach :
1. loop through given array
2. check if no 1 or no 4 is then return true
3. otherwise return false

I wrote my code as below
public boolean no14(int[] nums) {
  boolean result=false;
  for(int i=0;i<nums.length;i++){
    if(nums[i]!=1||nums[i]!=4){
      result=true;
      return result;
    }
    
  }
  return result;
  
}

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I am not passing all tests.
Expected      Run            
no14([1, 2, 3]) → true      true      OK      
no14([1, 2, 3, 4]) → false      true      X      
no14([2, 3, 4]) → true      true      OK      
no14([1, 1, 4, 4]) → false      true      X      
no14([2, 2, 4, 4]) → true      true      OK      
no14([2, 3, 4, 1]) → false      true      X      
no14([2, 1, 1]) → true      true      OK      
no14([1, 4]) → false      true      X      
no14([2]) → true      true      OK      
no14([2, 1]) → true      true      OK      
no14([1]) → true      true      OK      
no14([4]) → true      true      OK      
no14([]) → true      false      X      
no14([1, 1, 1, 1]) → true      true      OK      
no14([9, 4, 4, 1]) → false      true      X      
no14([4, 2, 3, 1]) → false      true      X      
no14([4, 2, 3, 5]) → true      true      OK      
no14([4, 4, 2]) → true      true      OK      
no14([1, 4, 4]) → false      true      X      
other tests
X      
Correct for more than half the tests

How to improve my design, approach, code? please advise
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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Hammadh Abdul Rahman
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SOLUTION
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krakatoa
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Avatar of gudii9

ASKER


Having return statement within the loop will return the result before checking all the numbers.

public boolean no14(int[] nums) {
  boolean result=false;
  for(int i=0;i<nums.length;i++){
    if(nums[i]!=1||nums[i]!=4){
      result=true;
      //return result;
    }
    
  }
  return result;
  
}

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even putting return outside fails tests. i wonder why?
Expected      Run            
no14([1, 2, 3]) → true      true      OK      
no14([1, 2, 3, 4]) → false      true      X      
no14([2, 3, 4]) → true      true      OK      
no14([1, 1, 4, 4]) → false      true      X      
no14([2, 2, 4, 4]) → true      true      OK      
no14([2, 3, 4, 1]) → false      true      X      
no14([2, 1, 1]) → true      true      OK      
no14([1, 4]) → false      true      X      
no14([2]) → true      true      OK      
no14([2, 1]) → true      true      OK      
no14([1]) → true      true      OK      
no14([4]) → true      true      OK      
no14([]) → true      false      X      
no14([1, 1, 1, 1]) → true      true      OK      
no14([9, 4, 4, 1]) → false      true      X      
no14([4, 2, 3, 1]) → false      true      X      
no14([4, 2, 3, 5]) → true      true      OK      
no14([4, 4, 2]) → true      true      OK      
no14([1, 4, 4]) → false      true      X      
other tests
X      
Avatar of gudii9

ASKER

   if(nums[i]==1)
      no1=false; // it contains 1's, so it contains no 1's is false
    else if(nums[i]==4)
      no4=false; // it contains 4's, so it contains no 4's is false
  }
  

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what is difference between above and below

 if(nums[i]!=1||nums[i]!=4){
      result=true;
      //return result;
    }
    

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i thought both same?
Avatar of gudii9

ASKER

return Arrays.toString(nums).indexOf("1")<0||Arrays.toString(nums).indexOf("4")<0;

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above also passed all tests
above also passed all tests

I know that already.

The question is : did you and if so why.
Avatar of gudii9

ASKER

   if(nums[i]==1)
      no1=false; // it contains 1's, so it contains no 1's is false
    else if(nums[i]==4)
      no4=false; // it contains 4's, so it contains no 4's is false
  }

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what is difference between above and below. please advise

 if(nums[i]!=1||nums[i]!=4){
      result=true;
      //return result;
    }

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Read the other expert's comment again.
 if(nums[i]!=1||nums[i]!=4){
      result=true;
      //return result;
    }

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If you check the results you will see that the above return true for any given number.
But the below code uses two variables not one. Variable "no1" is true is no 1's are found. Variable "no4" is true if no 4's are found. And the code returns true if either variable is true. That is if either no 1's or no 4's were found.

   if(nums[i]==1)
      no1=false; // it contains 1's, so it contains no 1's is false
    else if(nums[i]==4)
      no4=false; // it contains 4's, so it contains no 4's is false
  }

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This is a more pedestrian way of breaking it down too :

boolean b = true;
  for(int i : nums){if((i==1)){b = false;}}
  if(b==true)return b;
  b = true;
  for(int i : nums){if((i==4)){b =  false;}}
  return b;

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Avatar of gudii9

ASKER

If you check the results you will see that the above return true for any given number.//i see that
But the below code uses two variables not one. Variable "no1" is true is no 1's are found. Variable "no4" is true if no 4's are found. //how to decide to take as two separate variables???

And the code returns true if either variable is true. That is if either no 1's or no 4's were found.//this is clear
//how to decide to take as two separate variables???

because the question asks you to return true if EITHER 1 or 4 is not found. So a test like 2,3,4 should return true, because there are no 1s in it. A test like 2,3,1 would return true because . . . well, you tell us.

So you need to keep track of their existence *separately*.
Let's say the numbers are 1,2,3,4. If we know a given number is present, but don't know the rest of the numbers, can we determine whether the statement "contains no 1's or contains no 4's" is true or false?

#      "contains no 1's or contains no 4's"            "contains no 1's"            "contains no 4's"
1      Can't determine                                                      False                              Can't determine
2      Can't determine                                                      Can't determine            Can't determine
3      Can't determine                                                      Can't determine            Can't determine
4      Can't determine                                                      Can't determine            False


1. If we only know 1 is present, we can't be sure whether the statement is true or false. But we can be sure that part of the statement that is "contains no 1's" is false. However, we can't be sure whether the other part of the statement that is "contains no 4's" is true or false.
2. If we only know 2 is present, we can't be sure whether the statement is true or false. And we can't be sure that any part of the statement is true or false either.
3. If we only know 3 is present, we can't be sure whether the statement is true or false. And we can't be sure that any part of the statement is true or false either.
4.If we only know 4 is present, we can't be sure whether the statement is true or false. But we can be sure that part of the statement that is "contains no 4's" is false. However, we can't be sure whether the other part of the statement that is "contains no 1's" is true or false.

Since by looking at any one given number we can't be sure whether the statement is true or false, we can't use a single variable to represent whether the statement is true or false. But since by looking at any one given number, and if the number is 1, we can be sure that the statement "contains no 1's" is false, we can use a variable to represent whether the statement "contains no 1's" is true or false. Likewise since by looking at any one given number, and if the number is 4, we can be sure that the statement "contains no 4's" is false, we can use a variable to represent whether the statement "contains no 4's" is true or false.

And as shown by krakatoa 1 variable could be technically used. But this variable can only represent that a part of the statement is true or false. And since if one part of an OR statement is true the whole statement must be true, we don't need to check the other part. But if the first part was false we would need to check whether the second part is true or false.

A single boolean variable cannot be used to represent whether the whole statement is true or false. But an integer variable could be used. But it would make things complex and hard to understand.
Avatar of gudii9

ASKER

//how to decide to take as two separate variables???

because the question asks you to return true if EITHER 1 or 4 is not found. So a test like 2,3,4 should return true, because there are no 1s in it. A test like 2,3,1 would return true because . . . well, you tell us.

So you need to keep track of their existence *separately*.


//how to decide to take as two separate variables???

because the question asks you to return true if EITHER 1 or 4 is not found. So a test like 2,3,4 should return true, because there are no 1s in it. A test like 2,3,1 would return true because ...there are no 4s

So you need to keep track of their existence *separately*.

above is clear now.