Matrix Madness - smallest non-negative number | PROGRAMMING INTERVIEWS

Matrix Madness - smallest non-negative number | PROGRAMMING INTERVIEWS

Question: There is an N x N matrix with the property that each entry in the matrix is the smallest non-negative number, which does not appear either above the entry or to its left. Write a method to find the entry in a particular row and column.

For example, for N=8, we might have the matrix:

0    1    2    3    4    5    6    7
1    0    3    2    5    4    7    6
2    3    0    1    6    7    4    5
3    2    1    0    7    6    5    4
4    5    6    7    0    1    2    3
5    4    7    6    1    0    3    2
6    7    4    5    2    3    0    1
7    6    5    4    3    2    1    0

Answer: From the question statement, it is clear that the top left corner starts things off with 0 and the top row and the leftmost column are each completed with the positive integers 1,2,3,..., in order.

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