Leetcode•Nov 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 = 5andnum2 = 4, subtractnum2fromnum1, thus obtainingnum1 = 1andnum2 = 4. However, ifnum1 = 4andnum2 = 5, after one operation,num1 = 4andnum2 = 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;
};