Okay, here is another freebie :) I will put in a real one before the end of the weekend.
Basically, you are given a list from which you need to create a new list where each element is the product of all the "OTHER" elements.
I found a few interesting corner cases.
I challenge you to give it a try!
Read the challenge here:
https://git.qoto.org/Absinthe/productnot/blob/master/README.md
My attempt is checked into that repo as well.
A Python solution
@Absinthe Here is my #toyprogrammingchallenge no-division solution:
```
#!/usr/bin/env python
from collections import deque
from functools import reduce
from random import randint
def get_product_and_rotate(d):
"""Gets product of all but the first items in the queue"""
prod = reduce(lambda a, b: a * b, list(d)[1:])
d.rotate(-1) # Rotates left so that the next
return prod
if __name__ == "__main__":
n_items = randint(2, 10)
input_list = [randint(0, 9) for _ in range(n_items)]
print(input_list)
product_queue = deque(input_list)
print([get_product_and_rotate(product_queue) for _ in input_list])
```
Uses `reduce` for the multiplication, and uses a `deque` (double-ended queue) to rotate the list. I've read that using a deque is actually more efficient than just taking slices out of the list.
A Python solution
@zingbretsen Okay, this is less of a criticism as it is a question of understanding:
You used the deque to rotate and slice the list for the multiplication, Could you have also used list comprehension something like this:
current_index = the one we are working on
[ value for idx, value in enumerate(list) if idx != current_idx]
I know you wanted to use the deque
A Python solution
@Absinthe Rather than maintaining state with the deque, it would probably be better to pass the index in to the product function.
A Python solution
@zingbretsen right... bbiab, errand time
A Python solution
@zingbretsen The only problem I have with all of these no-division solutions is that you have to do the multiplication in all cases. I wonder if there is a mathematical trick to somehow solve without having to calculate the whole product each time, like the division solution. @freemo ... any ideas?
A Python solution
@Absinthe @freemo there's probably a dynamic programming approach where you cache the results of sub problems.
Maybe a recursive solution where you split the filtered list in half and return the product of the result of calling the function on both halves. Python has a decorator you can use called lru_cache which can cache the results of calling a function with specific inputs. This way, when it hits a problem that it's already seen before, it can just serve the result up from the cache instead of recomputing.
A Python solution
@Absinthe Yes, you could do it that way. And that would also probably be better with the functional approach.