How should I practice Minimum Operations with Multiply by Two and Divide by Three?

Start by reading the full statement, solve the visible examples, then compare the pattern against related Bloomberg LP onsite interview problems in FastPrep.

Is Minimum Operations with Multiply by Two and Divide by Three associated with Bloomberg LP?

FastPrep tags this as a Bloomberg LP onsite interview coding practice problem when the problem catalog has that company and stage context.

Minimum Operations with Multiply by Two and Divide by Three

Bloomberg LP● HardNEW GRADONSITE INTERVIEW

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Problem statement

Start at integer 1. Operation * replaces x with 2x; operation / replaces x with floor(x/3). Every intermediate state must remain between 1 and maxState.

Return a shortest operation string reaching target. Break shortest ties lexicographically with * before /. Return IMPOSSIBLE when unreachable.

Function

shortestOperationSequence(target: int, maxState: int) → String

Examples

Example 1

target = 10maxState = 16return = "****/*"

1->2->4->8->16->5->10.

Example 2

target = 3maxState = 16return = "****/*/"

The source's example reaches 3 through 16,5,10,3.

Constraints

1 <= target <= maxState <= 10^6.