leetcode 453. Minimum Moves to Equal Array Elements

Given a non-empty integer array of size n, find the minimum number of moves required to make all array elements equal, where a move is incrementing n - 1 elements by 1.

Example:

Input:
[1,2,3]

Output:
3

Explanation:
Only three moves are needed (remember each move increments two elements):

[1,2,3]  =>  [2,3,3]  =>  [3,4,3]  =>  [4,4,4]

一看到该题得到这么多往下的拇指，我就知道这一定是一道数学思维题。

Adding 1 to n - 1 elements is the same as subtracting 1 from one element, w.r.t goal of making the elements in the array equal.
So, best way to do this is make all the elements in the array equal to the min element.
sum(array) - n * minimum

为什么Adding 1 to n - 1 elements is the same as subtracting 1 from one element呢？这道题是要使得所有元素值相同，那么我们应该关注元素之间的差，将1加到1~n-1的元素上，是使得n-1的元素比剩下的那一个元素都大1，那么就等同于把剩下的那一个元素减一，这样达到的结果是一样的：使得n-1的元素比剩下的那一个元素都大1。

public int minMoves(int[] nums) {
		//sum-min*len
		int sum=0;
		int min=nums[0];
		for(int i=0;i<nums.length;i++){
			sum+=nums[i];
			min=min<nums[i]?min:nums[i];
		}
		return sum-min*nums.length;
        
}

当然，为什么结果是sum(array) - n * minimum也是有严谨的数学推算的。

let's define sum as the sum of all the numbers, before any moves; minNum as the min number int the list; n is the length of the list;

After, say m moves, we get all the numbers as x , and we will get the following equation

 sum + m * (n - 1) = x * n

and actually,

  x = minNum + m

and finally, we will get

  sum - minNum * n = m

So, it is clear and easy now.

至于为什么x = minNum + m呢？

before all elements reach to the same value, every time (n-1) elements add one meaning only one element remains the same, which of cause should be the max value( should be different from min value, otherwise they have reached the same value) of the array. So, with that being said, every time doing add one for (n-1) operation, the min value +1. If it takes m moves to reach x, then x=minNum+m. 

或者有一种更加容易懂的解释。

First, traverse the array, get the sum and the minimum value. If every element is equal, then min*(len) should equal to sum. This part is easy to understand. So, if they are not equal, what should we do? we should keep adding 1 to the array for k times until min*(len)==sum. Then we have:

len*(min+k)=sum+k*(len-1).
==> k=sum-min*len;