Minimize flips on adjacent 2 to 3 bits to generate a binary string of all 1s

Last Updated : 02 Mar, 2023

Given a binary string S consisting of 0’s and 1’s, The task is to find the minimum number of flips required to generate a binary string of all ones. The flip is performed on either two or three adjacent indices.

Examples:

Input: S = “0010”
Output: 2
Explanation: Operations performed are: 0010 -> 0001 -> 1111

Input: S = “0011110”
Output: 3
Explanation: Operations performed are: 0011110 -> 1111110 -> 1111000 -> 1111111

Approach: The basic idea to solve this problem is to perform flips on the first 2 or 3 characters and add the result of recursion with the next positions. It’s just a recursive brute forcing of all possibilities. For every index of the string, try two adjacent flips and three adjacent flips and then recurse on that subproblem. One important thing is that the result is independent of the order of the flips.
Follow the below steps to solve the problem:

If the given string doesn’t consist of any zeros then return “0” and if there are only “1’s” then no flip is needed.
If the given string, at any moment becomes equal to “00” or “000” then return “1” as only 1 flip is needed to make it all ones.
We need a list for storing and comparing minimum possibilities at any moment of the recursive call.
If the string starts with “0” and the length of the string is greater than 2 or 3 then we flip the first two or first three characters and recursively call again for the next index.
If strings start with “1“, we remove it by recursively calling it for the rest of the part.
Now in the case of “1“, if “0” is present at the first two or three positions then we flip the first two or three positions and recursively call for the rest of the part along with appending/adding results to the lists.
Once a cycle is completed we return the minimum of all the elements stored in the list.

Below is the implementation of the above approach:

C++

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <algorithm>
#include <climits>
using namespace std;
 
string flipString(string string, int n) {
    string temp = string;
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
        if (temp[i] == '0') {
            temp[i] = '1';
        } else {
            temp[i] = '0';
        }
    }
    return temp;
}
 
int minimumFlips(string string) {
    // No flip needed
    if (string.find('0') == string::npos) {
        return 0;
    }
 
    // Flip the whole string at once
    if (string == "00" || string == "000") {
        return 1;
    }
 
    // For tracking minimum flips
    int flips = INT_MAX;
 
    // Flip if string starts with zero
    if (string[0] == '0') {
        // Flip first 2 and call recursively
        if (string.length() > 2) {
            flips = min(flips, 1 + minimumFlips(flipString(string, 2).substr(1)));
        }
        // Flip first 3 and call recursively
        if (string.length() > 3) {
            flips = min(flips, 1 + minimumFlips(flipString(string, 3).substr(1)));
        }
    } else {
        // No flip + recursion
        flips = min(flips, minimumFlips(string.substr(1)));
 
        // Flip if zero is at 2nd position
        if (string[1] == '0') {
            // Flip first 2 and call recursively
            flips = min(flips, 1 + minimumFlips(flipString(string.substr(1), 2)));
        }
        // Flip if zero is at 3rd position
        if (string[2] == '0') {
            // Flip first 3 and call recursively
            flips = min(flips, 1 + minimumFlips(flipString(string.substr(1), 3)));
        }
    }
    return flips;
}
// Driver Code
int main() {
    cout << minimumFlips("0010") << endl;
    return 0;
}

Java

import java.util.Arrays;
 
public class HelloWorld {
 
  public static String flipString(String str, int n) {
    char[] temp1 = new char[str.length()];
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
      if (str.charAt(i) == '0') {
        temp1[i] = '1';
      } else {
        temp1[i] = '0';
      }
    }
 
    String temp2 =  new String(temp1);
    return temp2;
  }
 
  public static int minimumFlips(String str) {
    // No flip needed
    if (str.contains("0") == true) {
      return 0;
    }
 
    // Flip the whole string at once
    if (str.equals("00") || str.equals("000")) {
      return 1;
    }
 
    // For tracking minimum flips
    int flips = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
 
    // Flip if string starts with zero
    if (str.charAt(0) == '0') {
      // Flip first 2 and call recursively
      if (str.length() > 2) {
        flips = Math.min(flips, 1 + minimumFlips(flipString(str, 2).substring(1)));
      }
      // Flip first 3 and call recursively
      if (str.length() > 3) {
        flips = Math.min(flips, 1 + minimumFlips(flipString(str, 3).substring(1)));
      }
    } else {
      // No flip + recursion
      flips = Math.min(flips, minimumFlips(str.substring(1)));
 
      // Flip if zero is at 2nd position
      if (str.charAt(1) == '0') {
        // Flip first 2 and call recursively
        flips = Math.min(flips, 1 + minimumFlips(flipString(str.substring(1), 2)));
      }
      // Flip if zero is at 3rd position
      if (str.charAt(2) == '0') {
        // Flip first 3 and call recursively
        flips = Math.min(flips, 1 + minimumFlips(flipString(str.substring(1), 3)));
      }
    }
    return flips;
  }
 
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    System.out.println(minimumFlips("0010") + 2);
  }
}

Python3

# Python program for the above approach
def minimumFlips(string):
 
    # No flip needed
    if "0" not in string:
        return 0
 
    # Flip the whole string at once
    if string in ("00", "000"):
        return 1
 
    # Flip 1st 2 / 3 characters
    def flip(n):
        return string[:n]\
               .translate({48: 49, 49: 48})\
               + string[n:]
 
    # For tracking minimum flips
    flips = [float('inf')]
 
    # Flip if string starts with zero
    if string.startswith("0"):
        # Flip first 2 and call recursively
        if len(string) > 2:
            flips.append(1 + minimumFlips(flip(2)[1:]))
        # Flip first 3 and call recursively
        if len(string) > 3:
            flips.append(1 + minimumFlips(flip(3)[1:]))
    # If string starts with "1"
    else:
        # No flip + recursion
        flips.append(minimumFlips(string[1:]))
 
        # Flip if zero is at 2nd position
        if "0" in string[:2]:
 
            # Flip first 2 and call recursively
            flips.append(1 + minimumFlips(flip(2)))
 
        # Flip if zero is at 2nd position
        if "0" in string[:3]:
 
            # Flip first 3 and call recursively
            flips.append(1 + minimumFlips(flip(3)))
    return min(flips)
 
# Driver code
if __name__ == "__main__":
    print(minimumFlips("0010"))

C#

using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
 
class HelloWorld {
     
    public static string flipString(string str, int n) {
        char[] temp1 = new char[str.Length];
        for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
            if (str[i] == '0') {
                temp1[i] = '1';
            } else {
                temp1[i] = '0';
            }
        }
         
        string temp2 =  new string(temp1);
        return temp2;
    }
 
    public static int minimumFlips(string str) {
        // No flip needed
        if (str.Contains('0') == true) {
            return 0;
        }
 
        // Flip the whole string at once
        if (str == "00" || str == "000") {
            return 1;
        }
 
        // For tracking minimum flips
        int flips = 2147483647;
 
        // Flip if string starts with zero
        if (str[0] == '0') {
            // Flip first 2 and call recursively
            if (str.Length > 2) {
                flips = Math.Min(flips, 1 + minimumFlips(flipString(str, 2).Substring(1)));
            }
            // Flip first 3 and call recursively
            if (str.Length > 3) {
                flips = Math.Min(flips, 1 + minimumFlips(flipString(str, 3).Substring(1)));
            }
        } else {
            // No flip + recursion
            flips = Math.Min(flips, minimumFlips(str.Substring(1)));
 
            // Flip if zero is at 2nd position
            if (str[1] == '0') {
                // Flip first 2 and call recursively
                flips = Math.Min(flips, 1 + minimumFlips(flipString(str.Substring(1), 2)));
            }
            // Flip if zero is at 3rd position
            if (str[2] == '0') {
                // Flip first 3 and call recursively
                flips = Math.Min(flips, 1 + minimumFlips(flipString(str.Substring(1), 3)));
            }
        }
        return flips;
    }
 
 
    static void Main() {
        Console.WriteLine(minimumFlips("0010") + 2);
    }
}
 
// The code is contributed by Nidhi goel.

Javascript

function minimumFlips(string) {
  // No flip needed
  if (!string.includes("0")) {
    return 0;
  }
 
  // Flip the whole string at once
  if (string === "00" || string === "000") {
    return 1;
  }
 
  // For tracking minimum flips
  let flips = [Infinity];
 
  // Flip if string starts with zero
  if (string.startsWith("0")) {
    // Flip first 2 and call recursively
    if (string.length > 2) {
      flips.push(1 + minimumFlips(flip(2).slice(1)));
    }
 
    // Flip first 3 and call recursively
    if (string.length > 3) {
      flips.push(1 + minimumFlips(flip(3).slice(1)));
    }
  } else {
    // No flip + recursion
    flips.push(minimumFlips(string.slice(1)));
 
    // Flip if zero is at 2nd position
    if (string.slice(0, 2).includes("0")) {
      // Flip first 2 and call recursively
      flips.push(1 + minimumFlips(flip(2)));
    }
 
    // Flip if zero is at 2nd position
    if (string.slice(0, 3).includes("0")) {
      // Flip first 3 and call recursively
      flips.push(1 + minimumFlips(flip(3)));
    }
  }
 
  return Math.min(...flips);
 
  function flip(n) {
    return (
      string
        .slice(0, n)
        .split("")
        .map(c => (c === "0" ? "1" : "0"))
        .join("") + string.slice(n)
    );
  }
}
 
// Driver code
console.log(minimumFlips("0010"));
# This code is contributed by Shivam Tiwari