Find the minimum cost to connect ropes in the following scenario. Given n ropes of different lengths, we need to connect these ropes into one rope. We can connect only 2 ropes at a time. The cost required to connect 2 ropes is equal to the sum of their lengths. The length of this connected rope is also equal to the sum of their lengths. This process is repeated until n ropes are connected into a single rope. Find the min possible cost required to connect all ropes.
Example 1:
Input: ropes = [8, 4, 6, 12]
Output: 58
Explanation: The optimal way to connect ropes is as follows
1. Connect the ropes of length 4 and 6 (cost is 10). Ropes after connecting: [8, 10, 12]
2. Connect the ropes of length 8 and 10 (cost is 18). Ropes after connecting: [18, 12]
3. Connect the ropes of length 18 and 12 (cost is 30).
Total cost to connect the ropes is 10 + 18 + 30 = 58
Example 2:
Input: ropes = [20, 4, 8, 2]
Output: 54
Example 3:
Input: ropes = [1, 2, 5, 10, 35, 89]
Output: 224
Example 4:
Input: ropes = [2, 2, 3, 3]
Output: 20
Solution
Time complexity: O(nlogn).
Space complexity: O(n).
C++ solution for the problem is as follows:
Check out more algorithms here.
Reference:
This problem was found in LeetCode.
