3576. Transform Array to All Equal Elements

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You are given an integer array nums of size n containing only 1 and -1, and an integer k.

You can perform the following operation at most k times:

  • Choose an index i (0 <= i < n - 1), and multiply both nums[i] and nums[i + 1] by -1.

Note that you can choose the same index i more than once in different operations.

Return true if it is possible to make all elements of the array equal after at most k operations, and false otherwise.

 

Example 1:

Input: nums = [1,-1,1,-1,1], k = 3

Output: true

Explanation:

We can make all elements in the array equal in 2 operations as follows:

  • Choose index i = 1, and multiply both nums[1] and nums[2] by -1. Now nums = [1,1,-1,-1,1].
  • Choose index i = 2, and multiply both nums[2] and nums[3] by -1. Now nums = [1,1,1,1,1].

Example 2:

Input: nums = [-1,-1,-1,1,1,1], k = 5

Output: false

Explanation:

It is not possible to make all array elements equal in at most 5 operations.

 

Constraints:

  • 1 <= n == nums.length <= 105
  • nums[i] is either -1 or 1.
  • 1 <= k <= n

Hints

Hint 1
Try converting all elements to 1 and separately to -1. For each case, calculate the minimum number of operations needed.
Hint 2
Use a greedy approach: scan the array from left to right and apply an operation only when needed to fix mismatches.