use aoc_runner_derive::*; //This problem has an interesting property that we can exploit. Between the positions of the crabs //the function we check is linear. //This means that we can immediately disregard all positions where no crab is at the start of the //computation. Those points might be a solution, but only if the next crab's location is a solution //as well. // //Another property that we can exploit is that the fuel costs of each crab are linear (except //directly at its starting position) and extend infinitely. This means that the slope on both //sides of the global minimum is always strictly positive. In other words: there are no local //minima. // //We could now start searching for the minimum, for instance with a bisection solver. //(Side note: Newton's method, the first that comes to mind, is not suitable here, as it assumes //that the function behaves quadratic at the minimum.) // //However looking at the above constraints, and at the form of our problem, which basically is //f(x) = sum(abs(x-pos(crab)), crabs) // //we can see another interesting detail: The slope of the derivative of this function is simply //given by the number of crabs to the right minus the number of crabs to the left. // //f'(x) = sum(sign(x-pos(crab)), crabs) // //Now that's something, isn't it? // //Long story short: we need the position of the first crab, at which there are more crabs left of and at //the position than there are crabs right of it. //There is a word for that condition: Median. fn compute_fuel_costs_for_position_part_1(input : &Vec, position : usize) -> usize { input.iter().map(|c| { if *c < position { position - c } else { c - position } }).sum() } #[aoc_generator(day7)] pub fn input_generator(input : &str) -> Result, std::num::ParseIntError> { input.split(",").try_fold(Vec::new(), |mut v,string| { v.push(string.trim().parse::()?); Ok(v) }) } #[aoc(day7, part1, Median)] pub fn solve_day7_part1_median(input : &Vec) -> usize { let mut input = input.clone(); if input.len() == 0 { 0 } else { let midpoint = input.len()/2; let (_, &mut optimum_position, _) = input.select_nth_unstable(midpoint); compute_fuel_costs_for_position_part_1(&input, optimum_position) } } //Part 2 is more "difficult". Here the fuel function is no longer linear, but rather quadratic. //This means all the nice properties we found in the first part are not applicable. On the plus //side, now we have quadratic behaviour around the minimum, so Newton's method is on the table //again. //But before jumping to conclusions, let's analyze the maths. //The fuel costs for a single crab are (|Δx|+1)*(0.5*|Δx|). Multiplied out we have //f(Δx) = 0.5 * (Δx²+|Δx|) //f'(Δx) = Δx + 0.5*sign(Δx) //The 0.5*sign(Δx) "offsets" all crabs parabolas by 0.5 to the left if viewed from the right, //or by 0.5 to the right, if viewed from the left. // //Still, put in words, the global minimum is there, where the sum of all distances + half the count //is the same on both sides. #[cfg(test)] mod tests { use super::*; fn get_day7_test_string() -> &'static str { "16,1,2,0,4,2,7,1,2,14" } #[test] fn test_day7_generator() { let input = input_generator(get_day7_test_string()); assert_eq!(input, Ok(vec![16,1,2,0,4,2,7,1,2,14])) } #[test] fn test_day7_part1_median() { let input = input_generator(get_day7_test_string()).unwrap(); let result = solve_day7_part1_median(&input); assert_eq!(result, 37); } }