New Problem Solution - "1848. Minimum Distance to the Target Element"

README.md

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ LeetCode
 
 | # | Title | Solution | Difficulty |
 |---| ----- | -------- | ---------- |
+|1848|[Minimum Distance to the Target Element](https://leetcode.com/problems/minimum-distance-to-the-target-element/) | [C++](./algorithms/cpp/minimumDistanceToTheTargetElement/MinimumDistanceToTheTargetElement.cpp)|Easy|
 |1847|[Closest Room](https://leetcode.com/problems/closest-room/) | [C++](./algorithms/cpp/closestRoom/ClosestRoom.cpp)|Hard|
 |1846|[Maximum Element After Decreasing and Rearranging](https://leetcode.com/problems/maximum-element-after-decreasing-and-rearranging/) | [C++](./algorithms/cpp/maximumElementAfterDecreasingAndRearranging/MaximumElementAfterDecreasingAndRearranging.cpp)|Medium|
 |1845|[Seat Reservation Manager](https://leetcode.com/problems/seat-reservation-manager/) | [C++](./algorithms/cpp/seatReservationManager/SeatReservationManager.cpp)|Medium|

algorithms/cpp/minimumDistanceToTheTargetElement/MinimumDistanceToTheTargetElement.cpp

@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+// Source : https://leetcode.com/problems/minimum-distance-to-the-target-element/
+// Author : Hao Chen
+// Date   : 2021-05-03
+
+/***************************************************************************************************** 
+ *
+ * Given an integer array nums (0-indexed) and two integers target and start, find an index i such 
+ * that nums[i] == target and abs(i - start) is minimized. Note that abs(x) is the absolute value of x.
+ * 
+ * Return abs(i - start).
+ * 
+ * It is guaranteed that target exists in nums.
+ * 
+ * Example 1:
+ * 
+ * Input: nums = [1,2,3,4,5], target = 5, start = 3
+ * Output: 1
+ * Explanation: nums[4] = 5 is the only value equal to target, so the answer is abs(4 - 3) = 1.
+ * 
+ * Example 2:
+ * 
+ * Input: nums = [1], target = 1, start = 0
+ * Output: 0
+ * Explanation: nums[0] = 1 is the only value equal to target, so the answer is abs(0 - 0) = 1.
+ * 
+ * Example 3:
+ * 
+ * Input: nums = [1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1], target = 1, start = 0
+ * Output: 0
+ * Explanation: Every value of nums is 1, but nums[0] minimizes abs(i - start), which is abs(0 - 0) = 
+ * 0.
+ * 
+ * Constraints:
+ * 
+ * 	1 <= nums.length <= 1000
+ * 	1 <= nums[i] <= 10^4
+ * 	0 <= start < nums.length
+ * 	target is in nums.
+ ******************************************************************************************************/
+
+class Solution {
+public:
+    int getMinDistance(vector<int>& nums, int target, int start) {
+        int minDist = nums.size();
+        for(int i=start; i < nums.size(); i++){
+            if ( target == nums[i] ) {
+                minDist = i - start;
+                break;
+            } 
+        }
+
+        for (int i=start; i>=0; i--) {
+            if ( target == nums[i] && start - i <= minDist) {
+                minDist = start - i;
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+        return minDist;
+    }
+};