Highest alternating integer sequence

Published: June 27, 2023, updated: January 5, 2025

Here’s a list of integer arrays:

0, 1, 2, 3
4, 7, 8, 9
10, 12, 14, 15, 17

Calculate the result of the following calculation for each array in this list: start with the left-most value. Take turns adding and subtracting the next value from this value. Continue until you reach the end of the array. As a sum formula, it looks like this:

n_1 + n_2 + (- n_3) + n_4 + (- n_5) + ...

The three arrays from the list look like this after running this calculation:

Sequence Result
0, 1, 2, 3 2
4, 7, 8, 9 12
10, 12, 14, 15, 17 6

Now, find the index of the largest result. I call this the highest alternating integer sequence.

In the table, you can see that the second integer sequence is the highest alternating integer sequence. Thus, the index is 1.

Write a function that takes a list of integer arrays and returns the index of the highest alternating integer sequence.

Some solutions can be seen here.

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