Minimum product in a grid of adjacent elements

Given an N x M grid. The task is to find the minimum product of four adjacent numbers in the same direction (up, down, left, right, or diagonally) in the matrix.

Examples:

Input : mat[][] = {1, 2, 3, 4,
                   5, 6, 7, 8,
                   9, 10, 11, 12}  
Output : 700 

2*5*7*10 gives output as 700 which is the smallest 
product possible 

Input :{7, 6, 7, 9
        1, 2, 3, 4
        1, 2, 3, 6,
        5, 6, 7, 1}   

Output: 36

Recommended: Please try your approach on {IDE} first, before moving on to the solution.

Approach: Traverse in the matrix apart from first row, last row, first column and last column. Compute the product of the four adjacent numbers which are at mat[i-1][j], mat[i+1][j], mat[i][j+1] and mat[i][j-1]. On each computation, if the product thus formed is less than the previous minimum found, then replace the minimum variable with the computed product.

Below is the implementation of the above approach:

C++

// C++ program to find the minimum product 
// of adjacent elements 
#include <bits/stdc++.h> 
using namespace std; 
const int N = 3; 
const int M = 4; 
  
// Function to return the minimum 
// product of adjacent elements 
int minimumProduct(int mat[N][M]) 
{ 
  
    // initial minimum 
    int minimum = INT_MAX; 
  
    // Traverse in the matrix 
    // except the first, last row 
    // first and last coloumn 
    for (int i = 1; i < N - 1; i++) { 
        for (int j = 1; j < M - 1; j++) { 
            // product the adjacent elements 
            int p = mat[i - 1][j] * mat[i + 1][j] 
                    * mat[i][j + 1] * mat[i][j - 1]; 
  
            // if the product is less than 
            // the previously computed minimum 
            if (p < minimum) 
                minimum = p; 
        } 
    } 
  
    return minimum; 
} 
  
// Driver Code 
int main() 
{ 
    int mat[][4] = { { 1, 2, 3, 4 }, 
                     { 4, 5, 6, 7 }, 
                     { 7, 8, 9, 12 } }; 
  
    cout << minimumProduct(mat); 
    return 0; 
} 

Java

// Java program to find  
// the minimum product 
// of adjacent elements 
import java.io.*; 
  
class GFG 
{ 
static int N = 3; 
static int M = 4; 
  
// Function to return the  
// minimum product of  
// adjacent elements 
static int minimumProduct(int mat[][]) 
{ 
  
    // initial minimum 
    int minimum = Integer.MAX_VALUE; 
  
    // Traverse in the matrix 
    // except the first, last row 
    // first and last coloumn 
    for (int i = 1; i < N - 1; i++)  
    { 
        for (int j = 1; j < M - 1; j++)  
        { 
            // product the  
            // adjacent elements 
            int p = mat[i - 1][j] *  
                    mat[i + 1][j] * 
                    mat[i][j + 1] *  
                    mat[i][j - 1]; 
  
            // if the product is less  
            // than the previously  
            // computed minimum 
            if (p < minimum) 
                minimum = p; 
        } 
    } 
  
    return minimum; 
} 
  
// Driver Code 
public static void main (String[] args) 
{ 
    int mat[][] = {{1, 2, 3, 4}, 
                   {4, 5, 6, 7}, 
                   {7, 8, 9, 12}}; 
  
    System.out.println(minimumProduct(mat)); 
} 
} 
  
// This code is contributed 
// by anuj_67. 

Python3

# Python 3 program to find the minimum  
# product of adjacent elements 
import sys 
  
N = 3
M = 4
  
# Function to return the minimum 
# product of adjacent elements 
def minimumProduct(mat): 
      
    # initial minimum 
    minimum = sys.maxsize 
  
    # Traverse in the matrix except  
    # the first, last row first  
    # and last coloumn 
    for i in range(1, N - 1, 1): 
        for j in range(1, M - 1, 1): 
              
            # product the adjacent elements 
            p = (mat[i - 1][j] * mat[i + 1][j] *
                 mat[i][j + 1] * mat[i][j - 1]) 
  
            # if the product is less than 
            # the previously computed minimum 
            if (p < minimum): 
                minimum = p 
      
    return minimum 
  
# Driver Code 
if __name__ == '__main__': 
    mat = [[1, 2, 3, 4],     
           [4, 5, 6, 7], 
           [7, 8, 9, 12]] 
  
    print(minimumProduct(mat)) 
      
# This code is contributed by 
# Shashank_Sharma 

C#

// C# program to find  
// the minimum product 
// of adjacent elements 
using System; 
  
class GFG 
{ 
static int N = 3; 
static int M = 4; 
  
// Function to return the  
// minimum product of  
// adjacent elements 
static int minimumProduct(int [,]mat) 
{ 
  
    // initial minimum 
    int minimum = int.MaxValue; 
  
    // Traverse in the matrix 
    // except the first, last row 
    // first and last coloumn 
    for (int i = 1;  
             i < N - 1; i++)  
    { 
        for (int j = 1;  
                 j < M - 1; j++)  
        { 
            // product the  
            // adjacent elements 
            int p = mat[i - 1, j] *  
                    mat[i + 1, j] * 
                    mat[i, j + 1] *  
                    mat[i, j - 1]; 
  
            // if the product is less  
            // than the previously  
            // computed minimum 
            if (p < minimum) 
                minimum = p; 
        } 
    } 
  
    return minimum; 
} 
  
// Driver Code 
public static void Main () 
{ 
    int [,]mat = {{1, 2, 3, 4}, 
                  {4, 5, 6, 7}, 
                  {7, 8, 9, 12}}; 
  
    Console.WriteLine(minimumProduct(mat)); 
} 
} 
  
// This code is contributed 
// by anuj_67. 

PHP

<?php 
// PHP program to find the minimum  
// product of adjacent elements 
$N = 3; 
$M = 4; 
  
// Function to return the minimum 
// product of adjacent elements 
function minimumProduct($mat) 
{ 
    global $N; 
    global $M; 
  
    // initial minimum 
    $minimum = PHP_INT_MAX; 
  
    // Traverse in the matrix 
    // except the first, last row 
    // first and last coloumn 
    for ($i = 1; $i < $N - 1; $i++) 
    { 
        for ($j = 1; $j < $M - 1; $j++)  
        { 
            // product the adjacent elements 
            $p = $mat[$i - 1][$j] * $mat[$i + 1][$j] *  
                 $mat[$i][$j + 1] * $mat[$i][$j - 1]; 
  
            // if the product is less than the 
            // previously computed minimum 
            if ($p < $minimum) 
                $minimum = $p; 
        } 
    } 
  
    return $minimum; 
} 
  
// Driver Code 
$mat = array(array(1, 2, 3, 4), 
             array(4, 5, 6, 7), 
             array(7, 8, 9, 12)); 
  
echo minimumProduct($mat); 
  
// This code is contributed by Sach_Code 
?> 

Output:

Time Complexity: O(N*M)

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My Personal Notes

Recommended: Please try your approach on {IDE} first, before moving on to the solution.

C++

Java

Python3

C#

PHP

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