LeetcodeNov 09, 2025

Count Operations to Obtain Zero

Hazrat Ali

Leetcode

In one operation, if num1 >= num2, you must subtract num2 from num1, otherwise subtract num1 from num2.

  • For example, if num1 = 5 and num2 = 4, subtract num2 from num1, thus obtaining num1 = 1 and num2 = 4. However, if num1 = 4 and num2 = 5, after one operation, num1 = 4 and num2 = 1.

Return the number of operations required to make either num1 = 0 or num2 = 0.

 

Example 1:

Input: num1 = 2, num2 = 3
Output: 3
Explanation: 
- Operation 1: num1 = 2, num2 = 3. Since num1 < num2, we subtract num1 from num2 and get num1 = 2, num2 = 3 - 2 = 1.
- Operation 2: num1 = 2, num2 = 1. Since num1 > num2, we subtract num2 from num1.
- Operation 3: num1 = 1, num2 = 1. Since num1 == num2, we subtract num2 from num1.
Now num1 = 0 and num2 = 1. Since num1 == 0, we do not need to perform any further operations.
So the total number of operations required is 3.

Example 2:

Input: num1 = 10, num2 = 10
Output: 1
Explanation: 
- Operation 1: num1 = 10, num2 = 10. Since num1 == num2, we subtract num2 from num1 and get num1 = 10 - 10 = 0.
Now num1 = 0 and num2 = 10. Since num1 == 0, we are done.
So the total number of operations required is 1.


Solution
/**
 * @param {number} num1
 * @param {number} num2
 * @return {number}
 */
var countOperations = function(num1, num2) {
    let count = 0;

    while (num1 !== 0 && num2 !== 0) {
        if (num1 >= num2) {
            num1 -= num2;  
        } else {
            num2 -= num1;  
        }
        count++;
    }

    return count;
};



Comments