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342. Power of Four


This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by MD ARIFUL HAQUE

342. Power of Four

Difficulty: Easy

Topics: Math, Bit Manipulation, Recursion

Given an integer n, return true if it is a power of three. Otherwise, return false.

An integer n is a power of three, if there exists an integer x such that n == 4x.

Example 1:

  • Input: n = 16
  • Output: true

Example 2:

  • Input: n = 5
  • Output: false

Example 3:

  • Input: n = 1
  • Output: true

Constraints:

  • -231 <= n <= 231 - 1

Follow up: Could you solve it without loops/recursion?

Solution:

We need to determine if a given integer n is a power of four. An integer n is a power of four if there exists an integer x such that n = 4x. The solution should efficiently check this condition without using loops or recursion.

Approach

  1. Check for Positive and Non-zero: Since powers of four are always positive, any non-positive n (i.e., n <= 0) immediately returns false.
  2. Check Power of Two: A number that is a power of four must also be a power of two. This can be verified using the bitwise operation (n & (n - 1)) == 0. If this condition fails, n is not a power of two, hence not a power of four.
  3. Check Even Bit Position: For a number to be a power of four, its single set bit in binary representation must be at an even position (0-indexed from the right). This is checked using a bitmask 0x55555555 (which has bits set at all even positions in a 32-bit integer). If the result of (n & 0x55555555) is non-zero, the set bit is at an even position, confirming n is a power of four.

Let’s implement this solution in PHP: 342. Power of Four

<?php
/**
 * @param Integer $n
 * @return Boolean
 */
function isPowerOfFour($n) {
    ...
    ...
    ...
    /**
     * go to ./solution.php
     */
}

// Test cases
var_dump(isPowerOfFour(16)); // true
var_dump(isPowerOfFour(5));  // false
var_dump(isPowerOfFour(1));  // true
?>

Explanation:

  1. Initial Check: The function first checks if n is non-positive. If so, it returns false because powers of four must be positive.
  2. Power of Two Check: The condition (n & (n - 1)) == 0 checks if n is a power of two. If not, n cannot be a power of four, so the function returns false.
  3. Even Position Check: The bitmask 0x55555555 (binary 01010101010101010101010101010101) ensures the single set bit in n is at an even position. If the result of n & mask is non-zero, n is confirmed as a power of four; otherwise, it returns false.

This approach efficiently leverages bitwise operations to determine if n is a power of four without loops or recursion, adhering to the problem constraints and providing optimal performance.

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This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by MD ARIFUL HAQUE