Binary Watch

Problem

A binary watch has 4 LEDs on the top to represent the hours (0-11), and 6 LEDs on the bottom to represent the minutes (0-59). Each LED represents a zero or one, with the least significant bit on the right.

  • For example, the below binary watch reads “4:51”.

Given an integer turnedOn which represents the number of LEDs that are currently on (ignoring the PM), return all possible times the watch could represent. You may return the answer in any order.

The hour must not contain a leading zero.

  • For example, “01:00” is not valid. It should be “1:00”.

The minute must consist of two digits and may contain a leading zero.

  • For example, “10:2” is not valid. It should be “10:02”.

Example 1:

Input: turnedOn = 1
Output: ["0:01","0:02","0:04","0:08","0:16","0:32","1:00","2:00","4:00","8:00"]

Example 2:

Input: turnedOn = 9
Output: []

Constraints:

  • 0 <= turnedOn <= 10

Solution

class Solution {
    public List<String> readBinaryWatch(int turnedOn) {
        var answer = new ArrayList<String>();
        solve(turnedOn, 0, new BitSet(10), answer);
        return answer;
    }

    public String bString(BitSet b) {
        return String.format("%d:%02d", hours(b), minutes(b));
    }

    public int hours(BitSet b) {
        // skip the first 6 bits
        int mul = 1;
        int value = 0;
        for (var i = 6; i < 10; i++) {
            value = value + (mul * (b.get(i) ? 1 : 0));
            mul = mul << 1;
        }
        return value;
    }

    public int minutes(BitSet b) {
        // read the first 6 bits
        var mul = 1;
        var value = 0;
        for (var i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
            value = value + (mul * (b.get(i) ? 1 : 0));
            mul = mul << 1;
        }
        return value;
    }

    public void solve(int turnedOn, int start, BitSet b, List<String> answer) {
        if (turnedOn == 0) {
            answer.add(bString(b));
            return;
        }

        for (int i = start; i < 10; i++) {
            if (b.get(i) == true) {
                continue;
            }
            BitSet copy = (BitSet) b.clone();
            copy.set(i);
            // validate
            if (hours(copy) > 11 || minutes(copy) >= 60) {
                continue;
            }
            solve(turnedOn - 1, i, copy, answer);
        }
    }
}

Recent posts from blogs that I like

FBI Seizes NetNut Proxy Platform, Popa Botnet

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said today it worked with industry partners to seize hundreds of domains associated with NetNut, a sprawling residential proxy service operated by the publicly-traded Israeli company Alarum Technologies [NASDAQ: ALAR]. The action comes roughly two weeks afte...

via Krebs on Security

Brushstrokes: Portraits 1760-1877

Brushstrokes and painterly marks in the portraits of Gainsborough, Reynolds, Angelica Kauffmann, Jacques-Louis David and James Tissot.

via The Eclectic Light Company

Text AI watermarks will always be trivial to remove

The European Union AI Act will begin to be enforceable in August 2026, one month from now1. One of the biggest new requirements is Article 50, which requires all AI outputs to be “detectable as artificially generated”. In other words, if LLM providers want to do business in the EU, they will have to...

via Sean Goedecke