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SRM31 Aug 2015
SRM 672

SetPartialOrder

Problem statement, definition, constraints, and public examples.

Problem Statement

In math, we sometimes define a partial order on some objects. In this problem we will take a look at one possible way how to define a partial order on sets of integers.

Consider two sets of integers: X and Y. These two sets can be related to each other in four possible ways:

  • X is equal to Y if each element of X is also an element of Y and vice versa.
  • X is less than Y if X is not equal to Y (see previous item) and each element of X is also an element of Y.
  • X is greater than Y if Y is less than X.
  • In all other cases X and Y are incomparable.

In other words: X is less than Y if and only if X is a proper subset of Y. Two sets are incomparable if neither is a subset of the other.

You are given two int[]s a and b. The elements of a form the set X. The elements of b form the set Y. Compare X to Y and return the correct one of the following four strings: "EQUAL", "LESS", "GREATER", or "INCOMPARABLE".

(The string "LESS" means that X is less than Y, the string "GREATER" means that X is greater than Y. Quotes are for clarity only. Note that the return value is case-sensitive.)

Definition

Class:
SetPartialOrder
Method:
compareSets
Parameters:
int[], int[]
Returns:
String
Method signature:
String compareSets(int[] a, int[] b)
(be sure your method is public)

Constraints

  • Each of arrays a and b will have length between 1 and 50, inclusive.
  • Each element of arrays a and b will be between 1 and 100, inclusive.
  • In each of arrays a and b all elements are distinct.

Examples

  1. {1, 2, 3, 5, 8}
    {8, 5, 1, 3, 2}
    Returns: "EQUAL"
    The order of elements in a and b does not matter. The two sets X and Y are equal.
  2. {2, 3, 5, 7}
    {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}
    Returns: "LESS"
    Each number that occurs in a does also occur in b.
  3. {2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16}
    {2, 4, 8, 16}
    Returns: "GREATER"
  4. {42, 23, 17}
    {15, 23, 31}
    Returns: "INCOMPARABLE"
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