Distribute Candies to People — LeetCode 1103 Python Solution

The problem

We distribute some number of candies, to a row of n = num_people people in the following way: We then give 1 candy to the first person, 2 candies to the second person, and so on until we give n candies to the last person. Then, we go back to the start of the row, giving n + 1 candies to the first person, n + 2 candies to the second person, and so on until we give 2 * n candies to the last person.

Example

Input

candies = 7, num_people = 4

Output

[1,2,3,1]

Explanation

On the first turn, ans[0] += 1, and the array is [1,0,0,0].

Python solution

class Solution:
    def distributeCandies(self, candies: int, num_people: int) -> List[int]:
        ans = [0] * num_people
        i = 0
        while candies:
            ans[i % num_people] += min(candies, i + 1)
            candies -= min(candies, i + 1)
            i += 1
        return ans

Complexity

Pattern: Math and Number Theory

Find the closed form, the invariant, or the modular identity — and skip the loop entirely. LeetCode 1103. Distribute Candies to People is filed here on both counts: the reference solution below belongs to the algorithm family this hub collects, and LeetCode tags it Math.

The math and number theory guide has the Python template for the pattern and the 485 LeetCode problems that use it.

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