diff --git a/greedy_methods/best_time_to_buy_and_sell_stock.py b/greedy_methods/best_time_to_buy_and_sell_stock.py new file mode 100644 index 000000000..4aea19172 --- /dev/null +++ b/greedy_methods/best_time_to_buy_and_sell_stock.py @@ -0,0 +1,42 @@ +""" +Given a list of stock prices calculate the maximum profit that can be made from a +single buy and sell of one share of stock. We only allowed to complete one buy +transaction and one sell transaction but must buy before we sell. + +Example : prices = [7, 1, 5, 3, 6, 4] +max_profit will return 5 - which is by buying at price 1 and selling at price 6. + +This problem can be solved using the concept of "GREEDY ALGORITHM". + +We iterate over the price array once, keeping track of the lowest price point +(buy) and the maximum profit we can get at each point. The greedy choice at each point +is to either buy at the current price if it's less than our current buying price, or +sell at the current price if the profit is more than our current maximum profit. +""" + + +def max_profit(prices: list[int]) -> int: + """ + >>> max_profit([7, 1, 5, 3, 6, 4]) + 5 + >>> max_profit([7, 6, 4, 3, 1]) + 0 + """ + if not prices: + return 0 + + min_price = prices[0] + max_profit: int = 0 + + for price in prices: + min_price = min(price, min_price) + max_profit = max(price - min_price, max_profit) + + return max_profit + + +if __name__ == "__main__": + import doctest + + doctest.testmod() + print(max_profit([7, 1, 5, 3, 6, 4]))