LeetCode //C - 779. K-th Symbol in Grammar

779. K-th Symbol in Grammar

We build a table of n rows (1-indexed). We start by writing 0 in the $1^{st}$ row. Now in every subsequent row, we look at the previous row and replace each occurrence of 0 with 01, and each occurrence of 1 with 10.

• For example, for n = 3, the $1^{st}$ row is 0, the $2^{nd}$ row is 01, and the $3^{rd}$ row is 0110.

Given two integer n and k, return the $k^{th}$ (1-indexed) symbol in the $n^{th}$ row of a table of n rows.
 

Example 1:

Input: n = 1, k = 1
Output: 0
Explanation: $row1:\underline{0}$

Example 2:

Input: n = 2, k = 1
Output: 0
Explanation:
row 1: 0
$row2:\underline{0}1$

Example 3:

Input: n = 2, k = 2
Output: 1
Explanation:
row 1: 0
$row2:0\underline{1}$

Constraints:

• 1 <= n <= 30
• $1<=k<=2^{n-1}$

From: LeetCode
Link: 779. K-th Symbol in Grammar

Solution:

Ideas:

• Each row is generated by transforming the previous row:

  • 0 → 01, 1 → 10

• This means:

  • The first half of the row is the same as the previous row.
  • The second half is the flipped version.

• mid = 2^(n-2) represents the size of the first half.

• Recursively:

  • If k is in the first half → same value as previous row.
  • If k is in the second half → flipped value of corresponding position in previous row.

Code:

int kthGrammar(int n, int k) {
    if (n == 1) return 0;

    int mid = 1 << (n - 2); // 2^(n-2), the midpoint of the row

    if (k <= mid)
        return kthGrammar(n - 1, k); // Left half: same as in previous row
    else
        return 1 - kthGrammar(n - 1, k - mid); // Right half: flipped value
}