Array Rotation by Reversal in C++

Algorithms: Array Techniques November 15, 2026 C++

Three reversals rotate an array right without a second array..

cpp
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#include <stdio.h>
#include <vector>
#include <algorithm>
#include <stdexcept>
#include <cstdint>
#include <limits>
// Array Rotation by Reversal in C++
//
// PURPOSE
// Three reversals rotate an array right without a second array.
//
// METHOD
// Normalize k modulo length. Reverse the whole array, then reverse the first k elements and
// the remaining suffix.
//
// COMPLEXITY
// O(n) time, O(1) auxiliary space.
//
// CONTRACT
// k >= 0. Rotates right in place, returns 0. Empty input is valid.
// Public APIs infer array lengths except in C, which accepts pointer/length pairs. Vertex
// counts and matrix dimensions remain explicit. Arrays must contain signed 32-bit integers.
// Sorted order, correct tree topology, and caller-owned data-structure invariants are
// preconditions; checking them on every query would change query complexity.
// Scalar and shape checks are included. Value-range checks are included where needed to
// prevent invalid indexing or nontermination. Allocation sizes are capped at 4,000,000
// workspace entries. Arithmetic outside Python raises an error on 32-bit overflow; Python
// uses arbitrary precision. Native allocation failures propagate. In-place outputs may be
// partly updated after arithmetic failure. These are single-threaded, in-memory
// implementations.
//
// LANGUAGE DETAILS
// C++17: const vector references for inputs, mutable references for outputs, RAII workspace,
// standard lower_bound for LIS. Invalid inputs throw invalid_argument; overflow throws
// overflow_error; allocation failure propagates bad_alloc.
//
// EXAMPLE
// Expected return: 0.
// Expected a after call: [4, 1, 2, 3].
// Run: g++ -std=c++17 -O2 example.cpp -o example && ./example
// Tests for this exact source artifact run before publication. The accompanying source
// archive includes unit cases, runtime results, and source hashes.

static int alg_min(int a, int b) { return a < b ? a : b; }
static int alg_max(int a, int b) { return a > b ? a : b; }
static void alg_require(bool valid) { if (!valid) throw std::invalid_argument("invalid algorithm input"); }
static int alg_checked(int64_t v) { if (v < INT32_MIN || v > INT32_MAX) throw std::overflow_error("32-bit result overflow"); return (int)v; }
static int alg_add(int a,int b) { return alg_checked((int64_t)a+b); }
static int alg_sub(int a,int b) { return alg_checked((int64_t)a-b); }
static int alg_mul(int a,int b) { return alg_checked((int64_t)a*b); }
static size_t alg_size(int n) { alg_require(n>=0 && n<=4000000); return (size_t)n; }

int rotate_right(std::vector<int>& a, int k) {
    alg_require(a.size() <= 1000000);
    int n = (int)a.size();
    alg_require(((n >= 0) && (n <= 1000000)));
    alg_require(((int)a.size() == n));
    alg_require((k >= 0));
    if ((n == 0)) {
        return 0;
    }
    k = (k % n);
    int phase = 0;
    int left = 0;
    int right = 0;
    int temp = 0;
    while ((phase < 3)) {
        if ((phase == 0)) {
            left = 0;
            right = alg_sub(n, 1);
        } else {
            if ((phase == 1)) {
                left = 0;
                right = alg_sub(k, 1);
            } else {
                left = k;
                right = alg_sub(n, 1);
            }
        }
        while ((left < right)) {
            temp = a[left];
            a[left] = a[right];
            a[right] = temp;
            left = alg_add(left, 1);
            right = alg_sub(right, 1);
        }
        phase = alg_add(phase, 1);
    }
    return 0;
}

int main(void) {
    std::vector<int> a = {1, 2, 3, 4};
    int k = 1;
    int result = rotate_right(a, k);
    printf("%d\n", result);
    // Expected a: [4, 1, 2, 3]
    for (int alg_print = 0; alg_print < 4; alg_print++) printf("%d ", a[alg_print]);
    printf("\n");
    return 0;
}