This notebook was prepared by Donne Martin. Source and license info is on GitHub.

Challenge Notebook¶

Problem: You are running up n steps. If you can take a single, double, or triple step, how many possible ways are there to run up to the nth step?¶

Constraints¶

If n == 0, what should the result be?
- Go with 1, but discuss different approaches
Can we assume the inputs are valid?
- No
Can we assume this fits memory?
- Yes

Test Cases¶

None or negative input -> Exception
n == 0 -> 1
n == 1 -> 1
n == 2 -> 2
n == 3 -> 4
n == 4 -> 7
n == 10 -> 274

Algorithm¶

Refer to the Solution Notebook. If you are stuck and need a hint, the solution notebook's algorithm discussion might be a good place to start.

Code¶

In [ ]:

class Steps(object):

    def count_ways(self, num_steps):
        # TODO: Implement me
        pass

Unit Test¶

The following unit test is expected to fail until you solve the challenge.

In [ ]:

# %load test_steps.py
import unittest


class TestSteps(unittest.TestCase):

    def test_steps(self):
        steps = Steps()
        self.assertRaises(TypeError, steps.count_ways, None)
        self.assertRaises(TypeError, steps.count_ways, -1)
        self.assertEqual(steps.count_ways(0), 1)
        self.assertEqual(steps.count_ways(1), 1)
        self.assertEqual(steps.count_ways(2), 2)
        self.assertEqual(steps.count_ways(3), 4)
        self.assertEqual(steps.count_ways(4), 7)
        self.assertEqual(steps.count_ways(10), 274)
        print('Success: test_steps')


def main():
    test = TestSteps()
    test.test_steps()


if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

Solution Notebook¶

Review the Solution Notebook for a discussion on algorithms and code solutions.