Jump Game Ii
To solve this coding challenge, the method we use focuses on tracking the maximum reach and making jumps once reaching the end of the current reachable area. The idea is that we greedily make the optimal jump each time by keeping track of the furthest point that can be reached. We iterate through the list and update our jumps whenever we reach the end of our current range, aiming for the farthest distance possible within the current jump.
Explanation
- Initialization : Start by checking if the length of the array is 1, in which case it means we are already at the end and no jump is needed. Initialize variables to keep track of the number of jumps, the current end of the range we can reach, and the furthest point we can reach.
- Iterate through the List : Loop through the list, except for the last element as there is no reason to jump from it. In the loop:
-
Update the furthest point we can reach by comparing the current maximum reachable point with the sum of the current index
i
nums[i]
-
Check if the current index
i
- Increment the jump counter and update the current end of the range to the furthest point we can reach.
- End Condition : If at any point, our current end reaches or exceeds the last element of the list, we break out of the loop as we've determined the necessary jumps.
- Return : Finally, return the number of jumps calculated.
- Initialize Essential Variables :
-
jumps
-
current_range_end
-
farthest_point
- Loop through the Array Except the Last Element :
-
For each index
i
-
Update
farthest_point
farthest_point
i + nums[i]
-
If
i
current_range_end
-
Increment
jumps
-
Update
current_range_end
farthest_point
-
If
current_range_end
- Return the Total Jumps :
-
Return the
jumps
Detailed Step-by-Step Explanation
Detailed Steps in Pseudocode
function findMinJumps(nums):
# Get the length of the input array
length = length of nums
# If the length of the array is 1, no jumps are needed
if length is 1:
return 0
# Initialize jumps counter to 0
jumps = 0
# Initialize the range of the current jump's end position to 0
current_range_end = 0
# Initialize the farthest point that can be reached to 0
farthest_point = 0
# Loop through each index in the array up to the second last element
for index from 0 to length - 2:
# Update the farthest point we can jump to from the current index
farthest_point = max(farthest_point, index + nums[index])
# Check if the current index is the end of the current range
if index == current_range_end:
# Increment the jump counter as we need to make a jump
jumps = jumps + 1
# Update the end of the current range to the farthest point we can reach
current_range_end = farthest_point
# If the current range end reaches or exceeds the last index, break out of the loop
if current_range_end >= length - 1:
break
# Return the total number of jumps calculated
return jumps
This detailed pseudocode approach outlines how to methodically determine the minimum number of jumps required to reach the last element of the list by always jumping in the way that maximizes the distance within the current jump.