Hi,

I've got a huge two-dimensional array a[x][y].
Think of x as a coordinate and y as a value at it.

At some ranges of x, there are stretches of zero-values of y, which we can call gaps, such as:

x y
1 2
2 3
3 3
4 0
5 0
6 0
7 0
8 0
9 0
10 0
11 3
12 0
13 0
14 4
The task is to 'bridge' those 'gaps' that are 'shorter' than a certain interval (xmax) and have equal y values at the 'boundaries' (y0) - that is, for all x's within this interval, set y=y0.

For example, the gap at x={3;11} should be bridged with y=y0=3 if a user-defined xmax>7.
The gap at x={1;14} should never be bridged, as the y values at its boundaries are different.

It is easy to think of a pretty-much 'language-independent' algorithm for this problem, based on two nested loops.

But my array is really huge, so I am wondering if there is a more efficient Perl-specific solution to it using Perl-specific array functions?

Sorry if it looks a bit confusing and thanks in advance for your help!

In reply to A Perl-specific solution for a gap bridging problem? by a11

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