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Re: Confusing Algorithm

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On 22/04/13 13:39, RBotha wrote:
> I'm facing the following problem:
>
> """
> In a city of towerblocks, Spiderman can
> “cover” all the towers by connecting the
> first tower with a spider-thread to the top
> of a later tower and then to a next tower
> and then to yet another tower until he
> reaches the end of the city. Threads are
> straight lines and cannot intersect towers.
> Your task is to write a program that finds
> the minimal number of threads to cover all
> the towers. The list of towers is given as a
> list of single digits indicating their height.
>
> -Example:
> List of towers: 1 5 3 7 2 5 2
> Output: 4
> """
>
> I'm not sure how a 'towerblock' could be defined. How square does a shape have to be to qualify as a towerblock? Any help on solving this problem?

It's not the algorithm that's confusing, it's the problem. First clarify 
the problem.
This appears to be a variation of the travelling-salesman problem. 
Except the position of the towers is not defined, only their height.
So either the necessary information is missing or whoever set the 
problem intended something else.

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Confusing Algorithm RBotha <r@ymond.co.za> - 2013-04-22 05:39 -0700
  Re: Confusing Algorithm Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-04-22 22:56 +1000
  Re: Confusing Algorithm Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-04-23 01:02 +1000
  Re: Confusing Algorithm Oscar Benjamin <oscar.j.benjamin@gmail.com> - 2013-04-22 15:57 +0100
    Re: Confusing Algorithm Christian Gollwitzer <auriocus@gmx.de> - 2013-04-22 22:33 +0200
      Re: Confusing Algorithm Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2013-04-22 16:36 -0600
  Re: Confusing Algorithm DJC <djc@news.invalid> - 2013-04-22 22:38 +0100
  Re: Confusing Algorithm Tim Roberts <timr@probo.com> - 2013-04-23 23:18 -0700

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