CantorSet | Topcoder Archive

Problem Statement

The Cantor Set is an important mathematical construction devised by the 19th century mathematician Georg Cantor. It is defined as follows:

Start with the set of real numbers from 0.0 to 1.0 inclusive, which is denoted by [0.0, 1.0]. Then

At step 1, remove the open middle third of [0.0, 1.0] ("open" means not including its endpoints).
At step 2, remove the open middle thirds of the 2 remaining intervals.
...
At step k, remove the open middle thirds of the 2^(k-1) remaining intervals.
...

The Cantor Set is the part of [0.0, 1.0] that is not removed by this process.

We want software to help determine if a given number is in the Cantor Set. Create a class CantorSet that contains a method removed that is given a String value that represents a real number in [0.0, 1.0] and returns the step at which value is removed in the above construction. If it is not removed before step 1,000,000 return 0 indicating that it is highly likely that it is in the Cantor Set.

Definition

Class:: CantorSet
Method:: removed
Parameters:: String
Returns:: int
Method signature:: int removed(String value)
(be sure your method is public)

Constraints

value will contain between 2 and 50 characters, inclusive.
The first character in value will be '.'.
All characters in value after the first will be digits '0'-'9'.

Examples

```
".200"
```
```
Returns: 2
```
.2 is in the middle third of the lower third of [0.0, 1.0] so it is removed in step 2.
```
".74928"
```
```
Returns: 14
```
```
".975"
```
```
Returns: 0
```
This number is in the Cantor Set.

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