HiveBrain v1.2.0
Get Started
← Back to all entries
patternMinor

Proof of correctness of reversal algorithm for array rotation

Submitted by: @import:stackexchange-cs··
0
Viewed 0 times
arraycorrectnessrotationalgorithmforreversalproof

Problem

We are given an array A of size n and we have to rotate it in left direction by d positions. So e.g. if A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7} then for d = 2, the resultant rotated array is {3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 1, 2}.

One algorithm which does this goes as follows:

  • Reverse A[0..d-1] (0-indexing)



  • Reverse A[d..n-1]



  • Reverse A[0..n-1]



These three steps surprisingly rotate the array correctly. What is the math behind this algorithm? Why does it give a correct solution? It feels magical to me. I am not able to put up a formal proof of its correctness.

Solution

Here is a proof by picture, which follows the steps of the algorithm:
$$
0,\ldots,d-1,d,\ldots,n-1 \\
d-1,\ldots,0,d,\ldots,n-1 \\
d-1,\ldots,0,n-1,\ldots,d \\
d,\ldots,n-1,0,\ldots,d-1
$$
You can easily turn this into a formal proof by giving a formula for the permutation after each step, which you can easily prove correct.

Context

StackExchange Computer Science Q#96168, answer score: 3

Revisions (0)

No revisions yet.