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Closest Cow Wins

USACO · 2021 · December · silver-1

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sorting

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Closest Cow Wins: sorting walkthrough

Closest Cow Wins: use the linked editorial?s sorting idea on the published sample, then verify the displayed output.

Published input6 5 2 0 4 4 6 8 10 10 8 12 12 13 14 2 3 5 7 11modelAlgorithm ideaSort by the task-relevant key so the ordering exposes candidates that can be checked locally.task resultExpected output36
  1. 1

    Order

    Sort items by the comparison key used by the task.
  2. 2

    Scan

    Inspect the ordered neighbors or groups and update the candidate result.
  3. 3

    Finish

    Use the final aggregate or selected item as the answer.
  4. 4

    Verify the sample

    Use the published sample output to check the result of this idea on the displayed input.
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