[codility] TapeEquilibrium

Task description

A non-empty array A consisting of N integers is given. Array A represents numbers on a tape.

Any integer P, such that 0 < P < N, splits this tape into two non-empty parts: A[0], A[1], ..., A[P − 1] and A[P], A[P + 1], ..., A[N − 1].

The difference between the two parts is the value of: |(A[0] + A[1] + ... + A[P − 1]) − (A[P] + A[P + 1] + ... + A[N − 1])|

In other words, it is the absolute difference between the sum of the first part and the sum of the second part.

For example, consider array A such that:

A[0] = 3 A[1] = 1 A[2] = 2 A[3] = 4 A[4] = 3

We can split this tape in four places:

• P = 1, difference = |3 − 10| = 7
• P = 2, difference = |4 − 9| = 5
• P = 3, difference = |6 − 7| = 1
• P = 4, difference = |10 − 3| = 7

Write a function:

def solution(A)

that, given a non-empty array A of N integers, returns the minimal difference that can be achieved.

For example, given:

A[0] = 3 A[1] = 1 A[2] = 2 A[3] = 4 A[4] = 3

the function should return 1, as explained above.

Write an efficient algorithm for the following assumptions:

• N is an integer within the range [2..100,000];
• each element of array A is an integer within the range [−1,000..1,000].

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# you can write to stdout for debugging purposes, e.g.
# print("this is a debug message")
def solution(A):
    # write your code in Python 3.6
    min = float('inf')

    for idx in range(1,len(A)):
        first_sum = abs(sum(A[:idx]) - sum(A[idx:]))
            
        if min > first_sum:
            min = first_sum
    return min
    pass

# you can write to stdout for debugging purposes, e.g.
# print("this is a debug message")

def solution(A):
    # write your code in Python 3.6
    if len(A) == 2:
        return abs(A[0]-A[1])
        
    temp_1 = 0
    temp_2 = sum(A)
    ans = list()
    for idx in range(len(A)-1):
        temp_1 += A[idx]
        temp_2 -= A[idx]
        ans.append(abs(temp_1 - temp_2))
    
    return min(ans)
    pass