Finding two non-subsequent elements in array which sum is minimal

Question

Intro: As far as I could search, this question wasn\'t asked in SO yet.
This is an interview question.
I am not even specifically looking for a code sol

Answer 1

Here is a live javascript implementation of an algorithm that:

• finds the 4 smallest elements (excluding first/last element from search)
• finds the pairs of these 4 elements that are not adjacent in original array
• finds from these pairs the one with the minimal sum

function findMinNonAdjacentPair(a) {
    var mins = [];
    
    // quick exits:
    if (a.length < 5) return {error: "no solution, too few elements."};
    if (a.some(isNaN)) return {error: "non-numeric values given."};
    
    // collect 4 smallest values by their indexes    
    for (var i = 1; i < a.length - 1; i++) { // O(n)
        if (mins.length < 4 || a[i] < a[mins[3]]) {
            // need to keep record of this element in sorted list of 4 elements
            for (var j = Math.min(mins.length - 1, 2); j >= 0; j--) { // O(1)
                if (a[i] >= a[mins[j]]) break;
                mins[j+1] = mins[j];
            }
            mins[j+1] = i;
        }
    }
    // mins now has the indexes to the 4 smallest values

    // Find the smallest sum
    var result = {
        sum: a[mins[mins.length-1]]*2+1 // large enough
    }
    
    for (var j = 0; j < mins.length-1; j++) { // O(1)
        for (var k = j + 1; k < mins.length; k++) {
            if (Math.abs(mins[j] - mins[k]) > 1) { // not adjacent
                if (result.sum    > a[mins[j]]+a[mins[k]]) {
                    result.sum    = a[mins[j]]+a[mins[k]];
                    result.index1 = mins[j];
                    result.index2 = mins[k];
                };
                if (k < j + 3) return result; // cannot be improved
                break; // exit inner loop: it cannot bring improvement
            }
        }
    }
    return result;
}

// Get I/O elements
var input = document.getElementById('in');
var output = document.getElementById('out');
var select = document.getElementById('pre');

function process() {
    // translate input to array of numbers
    var a = input.value.split(',').map(Number);
    // call main function and display returned value
    output.textContent = JSON.stringify(findMinNonAdjacentPair(a), null, 4);
}

// respond to selection from list
select.onchange = function() {
    input.value = select.value;
    process();
}

// respond to change in input box
input.oninput = process;

// and produce result upon load:
process();

Type comma-separated list of values (or select one):

 <=

    5, 2, 4, 6, 3, 7
    1, 2, 3, 3, 2, 1
    4, 2, 1, 2, 4
    2, 2, 1, 2, 4, 2, 6



Output:

The algorithm has a few loops with following big-O complexities:

• find 4 smallest values: O(n), as the inner loop runs at most 3 times, which is O(1)
• find the smallest sum of non-adjacent pairs has a double loop: in total the body will run at most 4 times = O(1). NB: The number of possible pairs is 6, but the execution is guaranteed to break out of the loops sooner.

So the algorithm runs in O(n).