Solution: Minimum Flips to Make the Binary String Alternate

Statement▼

Given a binary string s, the following two operations can be performed in any sequence:

Type 1: Remove the character at the start of the string s and append it to the end of the string.
Type 2: Pick any character from the string and flip its value. In other words, if its value is $0$ , it becomes $1$ , and vice versa.

Your task is to return the minimum number of type- $2$ operations you must perform before s becomes alternating.

Note: The string is called alternating if no two adjacent characters are equal.

Constraints:

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Solution

Given a binary string s, the following two operations can be performed in any sequence:

Type 1: Remove the character at the start of the string s and append it to the end of the string.
Type 2: Pick any character from the string and flip its value. In other words, if its value is $0$ , it becomes $1$ , and vice versa.

Your task is to return the minimum number of type- $2$ operations you must perform before s becomes alternating.

Note: The string is called alternating if no two adjacent characters are equal.

Constraints: