PracticeSearching

Final Scoreboard Match

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Context

In the arcade game Neon Rally, the scoreboard stores player scores in nondecreasing order. A repeated score can appear several times because players may tie. The board system needs the position of the last entry having a requested score so it can highlight the final matching record.

Problem

Write a function that searches a nondecreasing array of scoreboard scores for a target score. Return the greatest zero-based index whose value equals the target. If the target does not occur, return -1. Use the ordering of the scoreboard to search efficiently rather than checking every score in sequence.

Examples

Example 1

Input: scores = [10, 20, 20, 20, 35, 50]target = 20

Output: 3

Explanation: For scores [10, 20, 20, 20, 35, 50] and target 20, the executed result is 3; the final recorded best is 3.

Example 2

Input: scores = [5, 12, 18, 27, 34]target = 19

Output: -1

Explanation: For scores [5, 12, 18, 27, 34] and target 19, the executed result is -1; the final recorded best is -1.

Example 3

Input: scores = [7]target = 7

Output: 0

Explanation: For scores [7] and target 7, the executed result is 0; the final recorded best is 0.

Constraints

0 <= len(scores) <= 100000
0 <= scores[i] <= 1000000 for every i
scores: sorted non decreasing
0 <= target <= 1000000
Indices are zero-based.
Types: scores is int[], target is int; result is int

Function signature

def find_last_score_index(scores: list[int], target: int) -> int

scores list[int]: A nondecreasing array of scores on the scoreboard.
target int: The score whose final occurrence should be located.
returns int: The greatest zero-based index containing target, or -1 if no score matches.

Adapted from MBPP problem task_316 (CC BY 4.0). Rewritten, extended and verified by Iksha.

Code

Saved

Checking environment…Python SandboxLn 1, Col 1

scores =target =