Check if at least two out of three booleans are true

Question

An interviewer recently asked me this question: given three boolean variables, a, b, and c, return true if at least two out of the three are true.

My solution follow

Answer 1

Why not implement it literally? :)

(a?1:0)+(b?1:0)+(c?1:0) >= 2

In C you could just write a+b+c >= 2 (or !!a+!!b+!!c >= 2 to be very safe).

In response to TofuBeer's comparison of java bytecode, here is a simple performance test:

class Main
{
    static boolean majorityDEAD(boolean a,boolean b,boolean c)
    {
        return a;
    }

    static boolean majority1(boolean a,boolean b,boolean c)
    {
        return a&&b || b&&c || a&&c;
    }

    static boolean majority2(boolean a,boolean b,boolean c)
    {
        return a ? b||c : b&&c;
    }

    static boolean majority3(boolean a,boolean b,boolean c)
    {
        return a&b | b&c | c&a;
    }

    static boolean majority4(boolean a,boolean b,boolean c)
    {
        return (a?1:0)+(b?1:0)+(c?1:0) >= 2;
    }

    static int loop1(boolean[] data, int i, int sz1, int sz2)
    {
        int sum = 0;
        for(int j=i;j<i+sz1;j++)
        {
            for(int k=j;k<j+sz2;k++)
            {
                sum += majority1(data[i], data[j], data[k])?1:0; 
                sum += majority1(data[i], data[k], data[j])?1:0; 
                sum += majority1(data[j], data[k], data[i])?1:0; 
                sum += majority1(data[j], data[i], data[k])?1:0; 
                sum += majority1(data[k], data[i], data[j])?1:0; 
                sum += majority1(data[k], data[j], data[i])?1:0; 
            }
        }
        return sum;
    }

    static int loop2(boolean[] data, int i, int sz1, int sz2)
    {
        int sum = 0;
        for(int j=i;j<i+sz1;j++)
        {
            for(int k=j;k<j+sz2;k++)
            {
                sum += majority2(data[i], data[j], data[k])?1:0; 
                sum += majority2(data[i], data[k], data[j])?1:0; 
                sum += majority2(data[j], data[k], data[i])?1:0; 
                sum += majority2(data[j], data[i], data[k])?1:0; 
                sum += majority2(data[k], data[i], data[j])?1:0; 
                sum += majority2(data[k], data[j], data[i])?1:0; 
            }
        }
        return sum;
    }

    static int loop3(boolean[] data, int i, int sz1, int sz2)
    {
        int sum = 0;
        for(int j=i;j<i+sz1;j++)
        {
            for(int k=j;k<j+sz2;k++)
            {
                sum += majority3(data[i], data[j], data[k])?1:0; 
                sum += majority3(data[i], data[k], data[j])?1:0; 
                sum += majority3(data[j], data[k], data[i])?1:0; 
                sum += majority3(data[j], data[i], data[k])?1:0; 
                sum += majority3(data[k], data[i], data[j])?1:0; 
                sum += majority3(data[k], data[j], data[i])?1:0; 
            }
        }
        return sum;
    }

    static int loop4(boolean[] data, int i, int sz1, int sz2)
    {
        int sum = 0;
        for(int j=i;j<i+sz1;j++)
        {
            for(int k=j;k<j+sz2;k++)
            {
                sum += majority4(data[i], data[j], data[k])?1:0; 
                sum += majority4(data[i], data[k], data[j])?1:0; 
                sum += majority4(data[j], data[k], data[i])?1:0; 
                sum += majority4(data[j], data[i], data[k])?1:0; 
                sum += majority4(data[k], data[i], data[j])?1:0; 
                sum += majority4(data[k], data[j], data[i])?1:0; 
            }
        }
        return sum;
    }

    static int loopDEAD(boolean[] data, int i, int sz1, int sz2)
    {
        int sum = 0;
        for(int j=i;j<i+sz1;j++)
        {
            for(int k=j;k<j+sz2;k++)
            {
                sum += majorityDEAD(data[i], data[j], data[k])?1:0; 
                sum += majorityDEAD(data[i], data[k], data[j])?1:0; 
                sum += majorityDEAD(data[j], data[k], data[i])?1:0; 
                sum += majorityDEAD(data[j], data[i], data[k])?1:0; 
                sum += majorityDEAD(data[k], data[i], data[j])?1:0; 
                sum += majorityDEAD(data[k], data[j], data[i])?1:0; 
            }
        }
        return sum;
    }

    static void work()
    {
        boolean [] data = new boolean [10000];
        java.util.Random r = new java.util.Random(0);
        for(int i=0;i<data.length;i++)
            data[i] = r.nextInt(2) > 0;
        long t0,t1,t2,t3,t4,tDEAD;
        int sz1 = 100;
        int sz2 = 100;
        int sum = 0;

        t0 = System.currentTimeMillis();

        for(int i=0;i<data.length-sz1-sz2;i++)
            sum += loop1(data, i, sz1, sz2);

        t1 = System.currentTimeMillis();

        for(int i=0;i<data.length-sz1-sz2;i++)
            sum += loop2(data, i, sz1, sz2);

        t2 = System.currentTimeMillis();

        for(int i=0;i<data.length-sz1-sz2;i++)
            sum += loop3(data, i, sz1, sz2);

        t3 = System.currentTimeMillis();

        for(int i=0;i<data.length-sz1-sz2;i++)
            sum += loop4(data, i, sz1, sz2);

        t4 = System.currentTimeMillis();

        for(int i=0;i<data.length-sz1-sz2;i++)
            sum += loopDEAD(data, i, sz1, sz2);

        tDEAD = System.currentTimeMillis();

        System.out.println("a&&b || b&&c || a&&c : " + (t1-t0) + " ms");
        System.out.println("   a ? b||c : b&&c   : " + (t2-t1) + " ms");
        System.out.println("   a&b | b&c | c&a   : " + (t3-t2) + " ms");
        System.out.println("   a + b + c >= 2    : " + (t4-t3) + " ms");
        System.out.println("       DEAD          : " + (tDEAD-t4) + " ms");
        System.out.println("sum: "+sum);
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) throws InterruptedException
    {
        while(true)
        {
            work();
            Thread.sleep(1000);
        }
    }
}

This prints the following on my machine (running Ubuntu on Intel Core 2 + sun java 1.6.0_15-b03 with HotSpot Server VM (14.1-b02, mixed mode)):

First and second iterations:

a&&b || b&&c || a&&c : 1740 ms
   a ? b||c : b&&c   : 1690 ms
   a&b | b&c | c&a   : 835 ms
   a + b + c >= 2    : 348 ms
       DEAD          : 169 ms
sum: 1472612418

Later iterations:

a&&b || b&&c || a&&c : 1638 ms
   a ? b||c : b&&c   : 1612 ms
   a&b | b&c | c&a   : 779 ms
   a + b + c >= 2    : 905 ms
       DEAD          : 221 ms

I wonder, what could java VM do that degrades performance over time for (a + b + c >= 2) case.

And here is what happens if I run java with a -client VM switch:

a&&b || b&&c || a&&c : 4034 ms
   a ? b||c : b&&c   : 2215 ms
   a&b | b&c | c&a   : 1347 ms
   a + b + c >= 2    : 6589 ms
       DEAD          : 1016 ms

Mystery...

And if I run it in GNU Java Interpreter, it gets almost 100 times slower, but the a&&b || b&&c || a&&c version wins then.

Results from Tofubeer with the latest code running OS X:

a&&b || b&&c || a&&c : 1358 ms
   a ? b||c : b&&c   : 1187 ms
   a&b | b&c | c&a   : 410 ms
   a + b + c >= 2    : 602 ms
       DEAD          : 161 ms

Results from Paul Wagland with a Mac Java 1.6.0_26-b03-383-11A511

a&&b || b&&c || a&&c : 394 ms 
   a ? b||c : b&&c   : 435 ms
   a&b | b&c | c&a   : 420 ms
   a + b + c >= 2    : 640 ms
   a ^ b ? c : a     : 571 ms
   a != b ? c : a    : 487 ms
       DEAD          : 170 ms

Answer 2

Taking the answers (so far) here:

public class X
{
    static boolean a(final boolean a, final boolean b, final boolean c)
    {
    return ((a && b) || (b && c) || (a && c));
    }

    static boolean b(final boolean a, final boolean b, final boolean c)
    {
    return a ? (b || c) : (b && c);
    }

    static boolean c(final boolean a, final boolean b, final boolean c)
    {
    return ((a & b) | (b & c) | (c & a));
    }

    static boolean d(final boolean a, final boolean b, final boolean c)
    {
    return ((a?1:0)+(b?1:0)+(c?1:0) >= 2);
    }
}

and running them through the decompiler (javap -c X > results.txt):

Compiled from "X.java"
public class X extends java.lang.Object{
public X();
  Code:
   0:   aload_0
   1:   invokespecial   #1; //Method java/lang/Object."<init>":()V
   4:   return

static boolean a(boolean, boolean, boolean);
  Code:
   0:   iload_0
   1:   ifeq    8
   4:   iload_1
   5:   ifne    24
   8:   iload_1
   9:   ifeq    16
   12:  iload_2
   13:  ifne    24
   16:  iload_0
   17:  ifeq    28
   20:  iload_2
   21:  ifeq    28
   24:  iconst_1
   25:  goto    29
   28:  iconst_0
   29:  ireturn

static boolean b(boolean, boolean, boolean);
  Code:
   0:   iload_0
   1:   ifeq    20
   4:   iload_1
   5:   ifne    12
   8:   iload_2
   9:   ifeq    16
   12:  iconst_1
   13:  goto    33
   16:  iconst_0
   17:  goto    33
   20:  iload_1
   21:  ifeq    32
   24:  iload_2
   25:  ifeq    32
   28:  iconst_1
   29:  goto    33
   32:  iconst_0
   33:  ireturn

static boolean c(boolean, boolean, boolean);
  Code:
   0:   iload_0
   1:   iload_1
   2:   iand
   3:   iload_1
   4:   iload_2
   5:   iand
   6:   ior
   7:   iload_2
   8:   iload_0
   9:   iand
   10:  ior
   11:  ireturn

static boolean d(boolean, boolean, boolean);
  Code:
   0:   iload_0
   1:   ifeq    8
   4:   iconst_1
   5:   goto    9
   8:   iconst_0
   9:   iload_1
   10:  ifeq    17
   13:  iconst_1
   14:  goto    18
   17:  iconst_0
   18:  iadd
   19:  iload_2
   20:  ifeq    27
   23:  iconst_1
   24:  goto    28
   27:  iconst_0
   28:  iadd
   29:  iconst_2
   30:  if_icmplt   37
   33:  iconst_1
   34:  goto    38
   37:  iconst_0
   38:  ireturn
}

You can see that the ?: ones are slightly better then the fixed up version of your original. The one that is the best is the one that avoids branching altogether. That is good from the point of view of fewer instructions (in most cases) and better for branch prediction parts of the CPU, since a wrong guess in the branch prediction can cause CPU stalling.

I'd say the most efficient one is the one from moonshadow overall. It uses the fewest instructions on average and reduces the chance for pipeline stalls in the CPU.

To be 100% sure you would need to find out the cost (in CPU cycles) for each instruction, which, unfortunately isn't readily available (you would have to look at the source for hotspot and then the CPU vendors specs for the time taken for each generated instruction).

See the updated answer by Rotsor for a runtime analysis of the code.

Answer 3

We can convert the bools to integers and perform this easy check:

(int(a) + int(b) + int(c)) >= 2

Answer 4

return 1 << $a << $b << $c >= 1 << 2;

Answer 5

You don't need to use the short circuiting forms of the operators.

return (a & b) | (b & c) | (c & a);

This performs the same number of logic operations as your version, however is completely branchless.

Answer 6

Rather than writing:

if (someExpression) {
    return true;
} else {
    return false;
}

Write:

return someExpression;

---

As for the expression itself, something like this:

boolean atLeastTwo(boolean a, boolean b, boolean c) {
    return a ? (b || c) : (b && c);
}

or this (whichever you find easier to grasp):

boolean atLeastTwo(boolean a, boolean b, boolean c) {
    return a && (b || c) || (b && c);
}

It tests a and b exactly once, and c at most once.

References

• JLS 15.25 Conditional Operator ? :