Solution 3 for Scaler Topics Fortnightly Contest - 24
Subtracking
This article is part of the Scaler Topics Fortnightly Contest - 24
Build an AI-First Career, Master the Complete Skillset
Choose from our industry-leading programs designed for career success
NSDC Certified
Modern Software and AI Engineering Program
Master full-stack development with AI integration
12 MonthsDuration
AI-LedCurriculum
Career SupportSupport
+1000 moreNSDC Certified
Modern Data Science and ML with specialisation in AI
Advanced data science techniques with AI specialization
12 MonthsDuration
AI-LedCurriculum
Career SupportSupport
+1000 moreNSDC Certified
Advanced AIML with Specialisation in Agentic AI
Deep dive into AIML with focus on Agentic systems
12 MonthsDuration
AI-LedCurriculum
Career SupportSupport
+1000 moreNSDC Certified
DevOps, Cloud & AI Platform Engineering
Build and manage AI-powered cloud infrastructure
12 MonthsDuration
AI-LedCurriculum
Career SupportSupport
+1000 moreNSDC Certified
AI Engineering Advanced Certification by IIT-Roorkee
Premier AI engineering certification from IIT-Roorkee
3 MonthsDuration
AI-LedCurriculum
Career SupportSupport
NSDC Certified
AI Forward Deployed Engineer Program
Full-stack engineering, production AI and client-facing consulting
12 MonthsDuration
AI-LedCurriculum
Career SupportSupport
+1000 moreSolution Approach
- We can greedily operate on the numbers. Note that the final number is always fixed and doesn’t change according to the operations. It is basically the GCD of the array.
- We need to subtract a higher number in order to reach the final number earlier. So we select the highest 2 non-equal numbers say x and y and operate on them. But this would take a lot of operations.
- Rather than subtracting again and again, we can just see how many times we need to subtract that number from the larger number and we can just change the larger number to y%x or x if y%x is equal to 0.
- This would be the most optimal way because subtracting by a lower number would take more moves. So, we can use a map that also
Time Complexity:
Space Complexity:
C++ Implementation
Sharpen Your Fundamentals with Free Learning
Java Implementation
How Scaler Transformed Careers in Different Fields
₹23L
AVG CTC
SCALER PLACEMENT PROOF
Scaler learners achieved 2.5x salary growth with average post-Scaler CTC reaching ₹23L.
11,000+placements
650+companies
Verified data
See full placement report
Hiring Partners:
Google
Amazon
Microsoft
Flipkart
Adobe1200+ more