Solution: Self Crossing
Explore how to identify if a path crosses itself by analyzing distance movements in a counterclockwise pattern on a plane. Learn the math and geometry conditions that define self crossing, and discover an efficient, scalable approach to solve this problem without tracking coordinates. This lesson helps you understand and implement the solution with optimal time and space complexity.
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Statement
You are given an array of integers, distance, where each element represents the length of a move you will make on an X-Y plane. You start at the origin, which is point distance[0] meters north, distance[1] meters west, distance[2] meters south, distance[3] meters east, and continue this pattern in a counterclockwise direction. Each step follows the sequence—north, west, south, east—repeating as long as there are remaining distances in the array.
Your task is to determine whether this path crosses itself at any point. This means checking whether you revisit any previously visited position (including the origin or any other point) at any step. Return TRUE if the path intersects itself, and FALSE otherwise.
Constraints: ...