MWC '15 #4 P2: Data Formatting

Points: 5

Time limit: 2.0s

Memory limit: 256M

Author:

Problem type

Salarios77 deals with large amounts of numbers on a daily basis. To ensure consistency in his storage of special numbers, he likes following a particular format when possible:

$a_i \ge a_{i-1}$ ~a_i \ge a_{i-1}~ for all even $i$ ~i~ (ascending order).
$a_i \le a_{i-1}$ ~a_i \le a_{i-1}~ for all odd $i$ ~i~ (descending order).

Given some records of $N$ ~N~ numbers, determine if it is possible to follow the pattern, and if possible output the pattern.

Input Specification

First line contains $N$ ~N~, the amount of numbers provided. The second line consists of $N$ ~N~ spaced integers, which represent $a_n$ ~a_n~^th value.

Output Specification

If it is impossible, output: IMPOSSIBLE. If it is possible, output the $N$ ~N~ integers in order separated by a space.

Sample Input 1

4
1 1 1 1

Sample Output 1

1 1 1 1

Sample Input 2

4
1 3 3 4

Sample Output 2

1 4 3 3

Comments

-4

LeonLiur commented on July 2, 2020, 3:25 a.m. ← edit 2 →

The problem is a bit confusing but essentially we only look at the output integers'formatting but not the input ones

0

Cameron commented on July 18, 2019, 5:52 p.m.

You might want to consider stating the restrictions for n.

0
Paradox commented on Aug. 25, 2017, 11:41 p.m. ← edited →
Shouldn't it say

$a_i \ge a_{i-2}$ ~a_i \ge a_{i-2}~ for all even $i$ ~i~ (ascending order).

$a_i \le a_{i-2}$ ~a_i \le a_{i-2}~ for all odd $i$ ~i~ (descending order).

4
richardyi25 commented on April 16, 2016, 4:44 p.m.
If the input is

4 2 4 6 8

Is the "2" the first term or the zero-th term?

2

MathBunny123 commented on April 16, 2016, 5:20 p.m.

Zero-th term. The output would be 2 8 4 6. The even terms would be 2 and 4, while the odd terms would be 8 and 6.

0

r3mark commented on April 16, 2016, 4:09 a.m.

Shouldn't sample output 2 be "1 3 3 4" as this minimizes the difference?

1

MathBunny123 commented on April 16, 2016, 4:44 a.m.

In fact you don't need to worry about the differences, just take note at the statement:

for all even $i$ ~i~.

1

MathBunny123 commented on April 16, 2016, 4:41 a.m.

Sorry, the problem statement was not clear. The minimized difference must be for every other term, so like: _3_4, ignore the 1 and 3. Same goes for 1_3_. In other words the minimized difference between consecutive odd/even indexed terms only.