Write a function that returns the maximum profit that a trader could have made in a day. I solved this using a greedy algorithm which constantly sets the maximum profit by tracking the lowest price we've encountered.
		
			
				
	
	
		
			54 lines
		
	
	
	
		
			1.5 KiB
		
	
	
	
		
			Python
		
	
	
	
	
	
			
		
		
	
	
			54 lines
		
	
	
	
		
			1.5 KiB
		
	
	
	
		
			Python
		
	
	
	
	
	
import unittest
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def get_max_profit(xs):
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    if len(xs) < 2:
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        raise Exception('Can only trade with two or more ticker values.')
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    lowest_buy = xs[0]
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    max_profit = None
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    for x in xs[1:]:
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        if not max_profit:
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            max_profit = x - lowest_buy
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        else:
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            max_profit = max(max_profit, x - lowest_buy)
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        lowest_buy = min(lowest_buy, x)
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    return max_profit
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# Tests
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class Test(unittest.TestCase):
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    def test_price_goes_up_then_down(self):
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        actual = get_max_profit([1, 5, 3, 2])
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        expected = 4
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        self.assertEqual(actual, expected)
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    def test_price_goes_down_then_up(self):
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        actual = get_max_profit([7, 2, 8, 9])
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        expected = 7
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        self.assertEqual(actual, expected)
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    def test_price_goes_up_all_day(self):
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        actual = get_max_profit([1, 6, 7, 9])
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        expected = 8
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        self.assertEqual(actual, expected)
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    def test_price_goes_down_all_day(self):
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        actual = get_max_profit([9, 7, 4, 1])
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        expected = -2
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        self.assertEqual(actual, expected)
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    def test_price_stays_the_same_all_day(self):
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        actual = get_max_profit([1, 1, 1, 1])
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        expected = 0
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        self.assertEqual(actual, expected)
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    def test_error_with_empty_prices(self):
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        with self.assertRaises(Exception):
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            get_max_profit([])
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    def test_error_with_one_price(self):
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        with self.assertRaises(Exception):
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            get_max_profit([1])
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unittest.main(verbosity=2)
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