Breadth-First Search: Practical Problem-Solving Patterns

Problem 1: Dual Container Water Measurement This classic state-space search problem involves two containers with known capacities and an infinite water supply. The goal is to achieve a specific volume in one container through a series of operations. Problem Analysis The key insight is representing each state by the current water volumes in both ...

Posted on Mon, 11 May 2026 00:29:39 +0000 by cleary1981

Weekly Contest 357 Solutions

Problem 2810 - Faulty Keeyboard Simulate the keyboard behavior as described. When encuontering character 'i', reverse the current string. class Solution { public: string finalString(string input) { string result = ""; for(char c : input) { if(c == 'i') { reverse(result.begin(), ...

Posted on Sun, 10 May 2026 02:00:36 +0000 by stone

Strange Elevator Problem (P1135) - BFS Solution

Problem Description A dream once led to an unusual elevator that operates differently from typical ones. Each floor has a number K_i (0 ≤ K_i ≤ N), and the elevator can move up or down by exactly K_i floors when the corresponding button is pressed. The elevator has four buttons: open, close, go up, and go down. Given a building with N floors, e ...

Posted on Sat, 09 May 2026 02:44:26 +0000 by cmp241

Foundations of Search: Classic Problems and Algorithmic Insights

A: Chessboard Rook Placement Given an (n \times n) board where certain positions marked # allow placement, determine the number of ways to place (k) identical, non-attacking rooks. Constraints: (k \leq n \leq 8). Since each row can hold at most one rook, a depth-first search over rows is feasible. The state space is bounded by ((n+1)^n), at mos ...

Posted on Thu, 07 May 2026 01:45:42 +0000 by benzrf