1887. Reduction Operations to Make the Array Elements Equal
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Given an integer array nums, your goal is to make all elements in nums equal. To complete one operation, follow these steps:
- Find the largest value in
nums. Let its index bei(0-indexed) and its value belargest. If there are multiple elements with the largest value, pick the smallesti. - Find the next largest value in
numsstrictly smaller thanlargest. Let its value benextLargest. - Reduce
nums[i]tonextLargest.
Return the number of operations to make all elements in nums equal.
Example 1:
Input: nums = [5,1,3] Output: 3 Explanation: It takes 3 operations to make all elements in nums equal: 1. largest = 5 at index 0. nextLargest = 3. Reduce nums[0] to 3. nums = [3,1,3]. 2. largest = 3 at index 0. nextLargest = 1. Reduce nums[0] to 1. nums = [1,1,3]. 3. largest = 3 at index 2. nextLargest = 1. Reduce nums[2] to 1. nums = [1,1,1].
Example 2:
Input: nums = [1,1,1] Output: 0 Explanation: All elements in nums are already equal.
Example 3:
Input: nums = [1,1,2,2,3] Output: 4 Explanation: It takes 4 operations to make all elements in nums equal: 1. largest = 3 at index 4. nextLargest = 2. Reduce nums[4] to 2. nums = [1,1,2,2,2]. 2. largest = 2 at index 2. nextLargest = 1. Reduce nums[2] to 1. nums = [1,1,1,2,2]. 3. largest = 2 at index 3. nextLargest = 1. Reduce nums[3] to 1. nums = [1,1,1,1,2]. 4. largest = 2 at index 4. nextLargest = 1. Reduce nums[4] to 1. nums = [1,1,1,1,1].
Constraints:
1 <= nums.length <= 5 * 1041 <= nums[i] <= 5 * 104
Hints
Hint 1
Sort the array.
Hint 2
Try to reduce all elements with maximum value to the next maximum value in one operation.