We use cookies (including Google cookies) to personalize ads and analyze traffic. By continuing to use our site, you accept our Privacy Policy.

SimplyLeet
TagsCompaniesDisclaimersPrivacyTermsContactAbout Us

Minimum Operations to Exceed Threshold Value I

Number: 3331

Difficulty: Easy

Paid? No

Companies: tcs

Problem Description

Given a 0-indexed integer array nums and an integer k, you can perform an operation where you remove one occurrence of the smallest element in the array. The goal is to determine the minimum number of operations required such that every remaining element in nums is greater than or equal to k.

Key Insights

  • The only operation available is to remove the smallest element in nums.
  • To meet the condition, every element less than k must be removed.
  • The answer is simply the count of elements in nums that are smaller than k.
  • Since the removal operation is forced (you cannot choose a different element), the optimal strategy is to remove all numbers below k.

Space and Time Complexity

Time Complexity: O(n), where n is the length of nums, because we iterate through the array once.
Space Complexity: O(1) since only a constant amount of extra space is used.

Solution

The solution involves iterating over the array and counting how many elements are less than k. Each such element would require one removal operation, hence the answer is the total count of these elements. Although the problem can be simulated with a heap or by sorting, a simple count satisfies the requirement because every number < k must be removed to satisfy the condition.

Code Solutions

Below are the implementations in Python, JavaScript, C++, and Java with line-by-line comments.

def min_operations_to_exceed_threshold(nums, k):
    # Initialize the counter for removal operations
    operations = 0
    # Iterate over every number in the array
    for num in nums:
        # If the current number is less than k, count an operation
        if num < k:
            operations += 1
    # Return the total number of operations needed
    return operations

# Example usage:
if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Input: nums = [2,11,10,1,3], k = 10, Expected Output: 3
    print(min_operations_to_exceed_threshold([2, 11, 10, 1, 3], 10))
← Back to All Questions