TIP102 Unit 1 Session 1 Standard (Click for link to problem statements)
Understand what the interviewer is asking for by using test cases and questions about the problem.
Q: What should the function count_less_than()
do?
race_times
and an integer threshold
. It should return the number of elements in race_times
that are less than threshold
.Q: What happens if all race times are greater than or equal to the threshold?
0
since there are no times less than the threshold.Q: Should the function handle negative numbers in the race_times
list?
race_times
list, including negative numbers.The function count_less_than()
should take a list of integers race_time
s and an integer threshold
and return the count of elements in race_times
that are strictly less than threshold
.
HAPPY CASE
Input: race_times = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6], threshold = 4
Expected Output: 3
Input: race_times = [5, 6, 7, 8], threshold = 7
Expected Output: 2
EDGE CASE
Input: race_times = [], threshold = 4
Expected Output: 0
Plan the solution with appropriate visualizations and pseudocode.
General Idea: Define a function that iterates through the list, counts how many elements are less than the threshold, and returns the count.
1. Define the function `count_less_than(race_times, threshold)`.
2. Initialize a variable `count` to 0.
3. Iterate through each element in `race_times`.
4. If an element is less than `threshold`, increment `count`.
5. Return `count`
⚠️ Common Mistakes
Implement the code to solve the algorithm.
def count_less_than(race_times, threshold):
# Initialize the count variable to 0
count = 0
# Iterate through each time in the race_times list
for time in race_times:
# If the time is less than the threshold, increment the count
if time < threshold:
count += 1
# Return the count of race times less than the threshold
return count