3105. Longest Strictly Increasing or Strictly Decreasing Subarray

3105. Longest Strictly Increasing or Strictly Decreasing Subarray

Difficulty: Easy

Topics: Array

You are given an array of integers nums. Return the length of the longest subarray¹ of nums which is either strictly increasing² or strictly decreasing³.

Example 1:

• Input: nums = [1,4,3,3,2]
• Output: 2
• Explanation:
  • The strictly increasing subarrays of nums are [1], [2], [3], [3], [4], and [1,4].
  • The strictly decreasing subarrays of nums are [1], [2], [3], [3], [4], [3,2], and [4,3].
  • Hence, we return 2.

Example 2:

• Input: nums = [3,3,3,3]
• Output: 1
• Explanation:
  • The strictly increasing subarrays of nums are [3], [3], [3], and [3].
  • The strictly decreasing subarrays of nums are [3], [3], [3], and [3].
  • Hence, we return 1.

Example 3:

• Input: nums = [3,2,1]
• Output: 3
• Explanation:
  • The strictly increasing subarrays of nums are [3], [2], and [1].
  • The strictly decreasing subarrays of nums are [3], [2], [1], [3,2], [2,1], and [3,2,1].
  • Hence, we return 3.

Constraints:

• 1 <= nums.length <= 50
• 1 <= nums[i] <= 50

Solution:

We need to find the length of the longest subarray that is either strictly increasing or strictly decreasing. Here's a step-by-step approach to achieve this:

1. Initialize Variables: We'll need variables to keep track of the lengths of the current increasing and decreasing subarrays, as well as the maximum length found so far.

2. Iterate Through the Array: We'll loop through the array and compare each element with the previous one to determine if the current subarray is increasing, decreasing, or neither.

3. Update Lengths: Depending on the comparison, we'll update the lengths of the current increasing or decreasing subarrays.

4. Update Maximum Length: After each comparison, we'll update the maximum length if the current subarray length is greater than the previously recorded maximum.

5. Return the Result: Finally, we'll return the maximum length found.

Let's implement this solution in PHP: 3105. Longest Strictly Increasing or Strictly Decreasing Subarray

<?php
/**
 * @param Integer[] $nums
 * @return Integer
 */
function longestMonotonicSubarray($nums) {
    ...
    ...
    ...
    /**
     * go to ./solution.php
     */
}

// Example usage:
$nums1 = [1, 4, 3, 3, 2];
echo longestMonotonicSubarray($nums1); // Output: 2

$nums2 = [3, 3, 3, 3];
echo longestMonotonicSubarray($nums2); // Output: 1

$nums3 = [3, 2, 1];
echo longestMonotonicSubarray($nums3); // Output: 3
?>

Explanation:

• Initialization: We start by checking if the array is empty. If it is, we return 0. Otherwise, we initialize maxLen, incLen, and decLen to 1.
• Loop Through Array: We loop through the array starting from the second element. For each element, we compare it with the previous element.
  • If the current element is greater than the previous, it means the subarray is increasing, so we increment incLen and reset decLen.
  • If the current element is less than the previous, it means the subarray is decreasing, so we increment decLen and reset incLen.
  • If the current element is equal to the previous, we reset both incLen and decLen.
• Update Maximum Length: After each comparison, we check if the current incLen or decLen is greater than maxLen and update maxLen accordingly.
• Return Result: Finally, we return maxLen, which holds the length of the longest strictly increasing or decreasing subarray.

This approach ensures that we efficiently find the longest subarray that is either strictly increasing or strictly decreasing in linear time complexity, O(n), where n is the length of the array.

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1. Subarray A subarray is a contiguous non-empty sequence of elements within an array. ↩

2. Strictly Increasing Array An array is said to be strictly increasing if each element is strictly greater than its previous one (if exists). ↩

3. Strictly Decreasing Array An array is said to be strictly decreasing if each element is strictly smaller than its previous one (if exists). ↩