Min Cost to Connect Ropes

一 题目

Given n ropes of different lengths, we need to connect these ropes into one rope. We can connect only 2 ropes at a time. The cost required to connect 2 ropes is equal to sum of their lengths. The length of this connected rope is also equal to the sum of their lengths. This process is repeated until n ropes are connected into a single rope. Find the min possible cost required to connect all ropes.

Example 1:

Input: ropes = [8, 4, 6, 12]
Output: 58
Explanation: The optimal way to connect ropes is as follows
1. Connect the ropes of length 4 and 6 (cost is 10). Ropes after connecting: [8, 10, 12]
2. Connect the ropes of length 8 and 10 (cost is 18). Ropes after connecting: [18, 12]
3. Connect the ropes of length 18 and 12 (cost is 30).
Total cost to connect the ropes is 10 + 18 + 30 = 58

Example 2:

Input: ropes = [20, 4, 8, 2]
Output: 54

Example 3:

Input: ropes = [1, 2, 5, 10, 35, 89]
Output: 224

Example 4:

Input: ropes = [2, 2, 3, 3]
Output: 20

二 分析

相对容易理解，有一堆绳子，用数组表示长度，两两链接，求所有链接绳子的和的最小值。

这也是amazon的题目，没有LeetCode的链接

2.1 优先级队列

  一个优先级队列。每次从队列中取出最短的两根绳子，进行链接，然后放回去。

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		int[] files1 = {8, 4, 6, 12};
		int[] files2 = {20, 4, 8, 2};
		int[] files3 = {1, 2, 5, 10, 35, 89};
		int[] files4 = {2, 2, 3, 3};
		System.out.println(mergeFiles(files1));
		System.out.println(mergeFiles(files2));
		System.out.println(mergeFiles(files3));
		System.out.println(mergeFiles(files4));

	}

	private static int mergeFiles(int[] files) {
		Queue<Integer> queue = new PriorityQueue<Integer>();
		for(int f:files){
		  queue.offer(f);
		}
		int result =0;
		while(queue.size()>1 ){
			int tmp = queue.poll()+ queue.poll();
			result += tmp;
			
			queue.offer(tmp);
		}			
			
		return result;
	}

2.2 list

如果用list来实现的话，就是要自己去排序，从最小的开始累加（然后删除，放入结果）。最大的数只加一次。

思路跟上面一样的，比如我一开始没想到优先级队列。那么用list实现就是麻烦些，也能实现。

public static void main(String[] args) {
		int[] files1 = {8, 4, 6, 12};
		int[] files2 = {20, 4, 8, 2};
		int[] files3 = {1, 2, 5, 10, 35, 89};
		int[] files4 = {2, 2, 3, 3};
		System.out.println(mergeFiles(files1));
		System.out.println(mergeFiles(files2));
		System.out.println(mergeFiles(files3));
		System.out.println(mergeFiles(files4));

	}
	
	public static int mergeFiles(int[] files) {
		//first sort
		List<Integer> list = new ArrayList<Integer>();
		for(int f:files){
		  list.add(f);
		}
	   Collections.sort(list);
	    int length = files.length;
	    int result =0 ;
	    while(list.size()>1) {		 
			   int tmp = list.get( 0)+list.get(1);
			   result += tmp;
			   list.add(tmp);
			   list.remove(0);
			   list.remove(0);		   
		   Collections.sort(list);
	   }
	   
	   return result;	
	}

做题少了，对于这种问题没有形成条件反射，还是用笨办法list实现的（数组不好删除）。

今天做题最大收获是认识几个英语单词。算法没怎么提高。原题链接：

https://leetcode.com/discuss/interview-question/344677/Amazon-or-Online-Assessment-2019-or-Min-Cost-to-Connect-Ropes