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Dsa Bit Manipulation Medium

Forbidden Bit-Hops

Given two integers 'Start' and 'End' (both between 0 and 1023) and a list of 'Forbidden' integers, find the minimum number of steps to reach 'End' starting from 'Start'. In each step, you can flip exactly one bit of the current number's 10-bit binary representation. You cannot step on any integer that is in the 'Forbidden' list. Input Format: Two space-separated integers, Start and End. A space-separated list of Forbidden integers. Output Format: A single integer representing the minimum steps, or -1 if unreachable. Example: Input: 0 7 1 2 4 Output: -1 (Explanation: To reach 7 (111) from 0 (000), you must flip bits which results in 1, 2, or 4. Since all are forbidden, no path exists.)

Key concepts

bit_manipulationbfsgraph_theory

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