Question

link

Given an array with four integers A, B, C, D, shuffle them in some order (there are 24 shuffles).

… Get the best shuffle such that

F(S) = abs(s[0]-s[1]) + abs(s[1]-s[2])+ abs(s[2]-s[3]) is maximum

For example

A=5, B= 3, C=-1, D =5
s[0]=5, s[1]=-1, s[2]= 5, s[3] =3

will give F[s] =14 as max diff

Solution

Referring to this execellent answer:

1. sort input and we get 4 number from min to max: A B C D
2. swap A and B - B A C D
3. swap C and D - B A D C
4. swap head and tail - C A D B

Finally you got CADB or BDAC.