一位面试官最近问了我这样一个问题:给定三个布尔变量a、b和c,如果三个变量中至少有两个为真,则返回true。
我的解决方案如下:
boolean atLeastTwo(boolean a, boolean b, boolean c) {
if ((a && b) || (b && c) || (a && c)) {
return true;
}
else{
return false;
}
}
他说这还可以进一步改进,但如何改进呢?
下面是一个测试驱动的通用方法。虽然不像目前提供的大多数解决方案那样“高效”,但是清晰、经过测试、有效且通用。
public class CountBooleansTest extends TestCase {
public void testThreeFalse() throws Exception {
assertFalse(atLeastTwoOutOfThree(false, false, false));
}
public void testThreeTrue() throws Exception {
assertTrue(atLeastTwoOutOfThree(true, true, true));
}
public void testOnes() throws Exception {
assertFalse(atLeastTwoOutOfThree(true, false, false));
assertFalse(atLeastTwoOutOfThree(false, true, false));
assertFalse(atLeastTwoOutOfThree(false, false, true));
}
public void testTwos() throws Exception {
assertTrue(atLeastTwoOutOfThree(false, true, true));
assertTrue(atLeastTwoOutOfThree(true, false, true));
assertTrue(atLeastTwoOutOfThree(true, true, false));
}
private static boolean atLeastTwoOutOfThree(boolean b, boolean c, boolean d) {
return countBooleans(b, c, d) >= 2;
}
private static int countBooleans(boolean... bs) {
int count = 0;
for (boolean b : bs)
if (b)
count++;
return count;
}
}
而不是写:
if (someExpression) {
return true;
} else {
return false;
}
写:
return someExpression;
至于表达式本身,是这样的:
boolean atLeastTwo(boolean a, boolean b, boolean c) {
return a ? (b || c) : (b && c);
}
或者这个(你觉得哪个更容易理解):
boolean atLeastTwo(boolean a, boolean b, boolean c) {
return a && (b || c) || (b && c);
}
它只测试a和b一次,c最多测试一次。
参考文献
JLS 15.25条件运算符?:
If the goal is to return a bitwise two-out-of-three value for three operands, arithmetic and iterative approaches are apt to be relatively ineffective. On many CPU architectures, a good form would be "return ((a | b) & c) | (a & b);". That takes four boolean operations. On single-accumulator machines (common in small embedded systems) that's apt to take a total of seven instructions per byte. The form "return (a & b) | (a & c) | (b & c);" is perhaps nicer looking, but it would require five boolean operations, or nine instructions per byte on a single-accumulator machine.
顺便提一下,在CMOS逻辑中,计算“不是三选二”需要12个晶体管(相比之下,逆变器需要2个晶体管,双输入NAND或NOR需要4个晶体管,而三输入NAND或NOR需要6个晶体管)。