Shortest Distance to Target String in a Circular Array

You are given a 0-indexed circular string array words and a string target. A circular array means that the array's end connects to the array's beginning.

• Formally, the next element of words[i] is words[(i + 1) % n] and the previous element of words[i] is words[(i - 1 + n) % n], where n is the length of words.

Starting from startIndex, you can move to either the next word or the previous word with 1 step at a time.

Return the shortest distance needed to reach the string target. If the string target does not exist in words, return -1.

LeetCode Problem - 2515

class Solution {
    public int closetTarget(String[] words, String target, int startIndex) {
        int n = words.length;  // Get the length of the words array

        // Loop to search for the target in both directions (clockwise and counter-clockwise)
        for (int count = 0; count < n; count++) {

            // Check the word in the clockwise direction
            // The index is calculated using (startIndex + count) % n to ensure it wraps around the array
            if (words[(startIndex + count) % n].equals(target)) {
                return count; // Return the number of steps taken in the clockwise direction
            }

            // Check the word in the counter-clockwise direction
            // The index is calculated using (startIndex - count + n) % n to ensure it wraps around correctly
            if (words[(startIndex - count + n) % n].equals(target)) {
                return count; // Return the number of steps taken in the counter-clockwise direction
            }
        }

        // If the target is not found, return -1
        return -1;
    }
}