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There is an array of integer values to be sorted.During the sorting process, the places of two numbers can be interchanged. Each interchange has a cost, which is the sum of the two numbers involved.

You must write a program that determines the minimal cost to sort the sequence of numbers.

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2  
First of all please read the faq. Your puzzle should have an objective primary winning criterion. Have a look around to see many well-specified questions. You may also read the comments below your last puzzle as those also address the same questions. – Howard May 6 '12 at 8:03
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We *must*? You should change site... – rubik May 6 '12 at 12:04
Are the integers equally distributed, or normal distributed, or somehow else? How many of them and how big? Do you have some sample input, something like for i in {1..100}; do echo $((RANDOM%256)); done for example. – user unknown May 27 '12 at 21:20
They are not equally distrubuted – NullPointerException May 28 '12 at 4:31

1 Answer

up vote 6 down vote

Scala:

def minimalCostToSortArray (daArray: Array[Int]) = 0

Why is the cost always zero? Because I don't change numbers at all: 

def arrsort (a: Array[Int], pos:Int = 0): Array[Int] = {
  if (pos >= a.length -1) a else { 
    if (a(pos) > a(pos+1)) {
      val diff = a(pos) - a(pos+1)
      a (pos) -= diff
      a (pos+1) += diff
      arrsort (a)
    } else arrsort (a, pos+1) 
  } 
}
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For the challenge to make sense at all, I'd interpret it as saying that the only operation we're allowed to use to modify the array is swapping two numbers. Still, +1 for thinking outside the box (and -1 for cheating, which leaves the total at ±0). – Ilmari Karonen May 6 '12 at 22:34
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I read ... the places can be interchanged as optional, but more so, as badly prepared question. I understand my answer more as a criticism on a badly prepared question. – user unknown May 6 '12 at 22:49

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