Maximize cost of segment having weight at most K from given weight and cost of N items

Last Updated : 23 Jul, 2025

Given two arrays W[] and C[] containing weight and cost of N (1 to N) items respectively, and an integer K, find a segment from 1 to N, such that the total weight of the segment is at most K and the total cost is maximum. Print the cost of this segment.

Examples:

Input: N = 6, K = 20, W[] = {9, 7, 6, 5, 8, 4}, C[] = {7, 1, 3, 6, 8, 3}
Output: 17
Explanation: Pick the segment having index (2, 3, 4) Weight of segment {6, 5, 8} is 19. Cost of segment = 3 + 6 + 8 = 17 which is maximum possible.

Input:  N = 3, K = 55, W[] = {10, 20, 30}, C[] = {60, 100, 120}
Output: 220

 

Naive Approach: The approach is to find all the segments whose weight is at most k and keep track of the maximum cost. For each element find a segment starting from this element.

Below is the implementation of the above approach.

C++
// C++ code to find maximum cost of
// a segment whose weight is at most K.
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;

// Function to find the maximum cost of
// a segment whose weight is at most k.
int findMaxCost(int W[], int C[],
                int N, int K)
{
    // Variable to keep track of
    // current weight.
    int weight = 0;

    // Variable to keep track
    // of current cost.
    int cost = 0;

    // variable to keep track of
    // maximum cost of a segment
    // whose weight is at most K.
    int maxCost = 0;

    // Loop to get segment
    // having weight at most K
    for (int l = 0; l < N; l++) {
        weight = 0;
        cost = 0;
        for (int r = l; r < N; r++) {
            weight += W[r];
            cost += C[r];
            if (weight <= K)
                maxCost = max(maxCost, cost);
        }
    }
    return maxCost;
}

// Driver code
int main()
{
    int W[] = { 9, 7, 6, 5, 8, 4 };
    int C[] = { 7, 1, 3, 6, 8, 3 };
    int N = sizeof(W) / sizeof(W[0]);
    int K = 20;

    cout << findMaxCost(W, C, N, K);
    return 0;
}
Java
// Java code to find maximum cost of
// a segment whose weight is at most K.
class GFG{

// Function to find the maximum cost of
// a segment whose weight is at most k.
static int findMaxCost(int W[], int C[],
                int N, int K)
{
  
    // Variable to keep track of
    // current weight.
    int weight = 0;

    // Variable to keep track
    // of current cost.
    int cost = 0;

    // variable to keep track of
    // maximum cost of a segment
    // whose weight is at most K.
    int maxCost = 0;

    // Loop to get segment
    // having weight at most K
    for (int l = 0; l < N; l++) {
        weight = 0;
        cost = 0;
        for (int r = l; r < N; r++) {
            weight += W[r];
            cost += C[r];
            if (weight <= K)
                maxCost = Math.max(maxCost, cost);
        }
    }
    return maxCost;
}

// Driver code
public static void main(String[] args)
{
    int W[] = { 9, 7, 6, 5, 8, 4 };
    int C[] = { 7, 1, 3, 6, 8, 3 };
    int N = W.length;
    int K = 20;

    System.out.print(findMaxCost(W, C, N, K));
}
}

// This code is contributed by 29AjayKumar
Python3
# Python code to find maximum cost of 
# a segment whose weight is at most K. 

# Function to find the maximum cost of
# a segment whose weight is at most k.
def findMaxCost(W, C, N, K) :
    
    # Variable to keep track of
    # current weight.
    weight = 0;

    # Variable to keep track
    # of current cost.
    cost = 0;

    # variable to keep track of
    # maximum cost of a segment
    # whose weight is at most K.
    maxCost = 0;

    # Loop to get segment
    # having weight at most K
    for l in range(N):
        weight = 0;
        cost = 0;
        
        for r in range(l, N):
            weight += W[r];
            cost += C[r];
            if (weight <= K):
                maxCost = max(maxCost, cost);
    return maxCost;

# Driver code
W = [ 9, 7, 6, 5, 8, 4 ];
C = [ 7, 1, 3, 6, 8, 3 ];
N = len(W);
K = 20;

print(findMaxCost(W, C, N, K));

# This code is contributed by Saurabh Jaiswal
C#
// C# code to find maximum cost of
// a segment whose weight is at most K.
using System;

class GFG 
{
  
    // Function to find the maximum cost of
    // a segment whose weight is at most k.
    static int findMaxCost(int[] W, int[] C, int N, int K)
    {
      
        // Variable to keep track of
        // current weight.
        int weight = 0;

        // Variable to keep track
        // of current cost.
        int cost = 0;

        // variable to keep track of
        // maximum cost of a segment
        // whose weight is at most K.
        int maxCost = 0;

        // Loop to get segment
        // having weight at most K
        for (int l = 0; l < N; l++) {
            weight = 0;
            cost = 0;
            for (int r = l; r < N; r++) {
                weight += W[r];
                cost += C[r];
                if (weight <= K)
                    maxCost = Math.Max(maxCost, cost);
            }
        }
        return maxCost;
    }

    // Driver code
    public static void Main()
    {
        int[] W = { 9, 7, 6, 5, 8, 4 };
        int[] C = { 7, 1, 3, 6, 8, 3 };
        int N = W.Length;
        int K = 20;

        Console.WriteLine(findMaxCost(W, C, N, K));
    }
}

// This code is contributed by ukasp.
JavaScript
<script>

// JavaScript code to find maximum cost of 
// a segment whose weight is at most K. 

// Function to find the maximum cost of
// a segment whose weight is at most k.
function findMaxCost(W, C, N, K) 
{
    
    // Variable to keep track of
    // current weight.
    let weight = 0;

    // Variable to keep track
    // of current cost.
    let cost = 0;

    // variable to keep track of
    // maximum cost of a segment
    // whose weight is at most K.
    let maxCost = 0;

    // Loop to get segment
    // having weight at most K
    for(let l = 0; l < N; l++) 
    {
        weight = 0;
        cost = 0;
        
        for(let r = l; r < N; r++)
        {
            weight += W[r];
            cost += C[r];
            
            if (weight <= K)
                maxCost = Math.max(maxCost, cost);
        }
    }
    return maxCost;
}

// Driver code
let W = [ 9, 7, 6, 5, 8, 4 ];
let C = [ 7, 1, 3, 6, 8, 3 ];
let N = W.length;
let K = 20;

document.write(findMaxCost(W, C, N, K));

// This code is contributed by Potta Lokesh

</script>

Output
17

Time Complexity: O(N*N), as we are using nested loops to traverse N*N times.

Auxiliary Space: O(1), as we are not using any extra space.

Efficient Approach: An efficient approach is to use the sliding window technique. 

  • Let l and r denote the index of the first and last element in the current window respectively.
  • Start traversing the array and keep track of total weight and total cost of elements in the current window and the maximum total cost found till now.
  • While weight of window is greater than k, keep removing elements from the start of window.
  • Now update the maximum cost.
  • After traversing all the items return the maximum cost.

Below is the implementation of the above approach. 

C++
// C++ code to find maximum cost of
// a segment whose weight is at most K.
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;

// Function to find the maximum cost of
// a segment whose weight is at most K.
int findMaxCost(int W[], int C[], 
                int N, int K)
{    
    // Variable to keep track 
    // of current weight. 
    int weight = 0;
    
    // Variable to keep track 
    // of current cost. 
    int cost = 0;
  
    // Variable to keep track of
    // maximum cost of a segment
    // whose weight is at most K.
    int maxCost = 0;
    
    // Loop to implement 
    // sliding window technique
    int l = 0;
    for (int r = 0; r < N; r++) {
        
        // Add current element to the window.
        weight += W[r];
          cost += C[r];
      
        // Keep removing elements 
        // from the start of current window 
        // while weight is greater than K
        while(weight > K)
        {
            weight -= W[l];
            cost -= C[l];
              l++;
        }

          // Update maxCost
          maxCost = max(maxCost, cost);
    }
    return maxCost;
}

// Driver code
int main()
{
    int W[] = {9, 7, 6, 5, 8, 4};
    int C[] = {7, 1, 3, 6, 8, 3};
    int N = sizeof(W) / sizeof(W[0]);
    int K = 20;

    cout << findMaxCost(W, C, N, K);
    return 0;
}
Java
// Java code to find maximum cost of
// a segment whose weight is at most K.
class GFG{

// Function to find the maximum cost of
// a segment whose weight is at most K.
static int findMaxCost(int W[], int C[], 
                int N, int K)
{    
  
    // Variable to keep track 
    // of current weight. 
    int weight = 0;
    
    // Variable to keep track 
    // of current cost. 
    int cost = 0;
  
    // Variable to keep track of
    // maximum cost of a segment
    // whose weight is at most K.
    int maxCost = 0;
    
    // Loop to implement 
    // sliding window technique
    int l = 0;
    for (int r = 0; r < N; r++) {
        
        // Add current element to the window.
        weight += W[r];
          cost += C[r];
      
        // Keep removing elements 
        // from the start of current window 
        // while weight is greater than K
        while(weight > K)
        {
            weight -= W[l];
            cost -= C[l];
              l++;
        }

          // Update maxCost
          maxCost = Math.max(maxCost, cost);
    }
    return maxCost;
}

// Driver code
public static void main(String[] args)
{
    int W[] = {9, 7, 6, 5, 8, 4};
    int C[] = {7, 1, 3, 6, 8, 3};
    int N = W.length;
    int K = 20;

    System.out.print(findMaxCost(W, C, N, K));
}
}

// This code is contributed by 29AjayKumar 
Python3
# Python 3 code to find maximum cost of
# a segment whose weight is at most K.

# Function to find the maximum cost of
# a segment whose weight is at most K.
def findMaxCost(W, C, N, K):

    # Variable to keep track
    # of current weight.
    weight = 0

    # Variable to keep track
    # of current cost.
    cost = 0

    # Variable to keep track of
    # maximum cost of a segment
    # whose weight is at most K.
    maxCost = 0

    # Loop to implement
    # sliding window technique
    l = 0
    for r in range(N):

        # Add current element to the window.
        weight += W[r]
        cost += C[r]

        # Keep removing elements
        # from the start of current window
        # while weight is greater than K
        while(weight > K):

            weight -= W[l]
            cost -= C[l]
            l += 1

        # Update maxCost
        maxCost = max(maxCost, cost)
    return maxCost

# Driver code
if __name__ == "__main__":

    W = [9, 7, 6, 5, 8, 4]
    C = [7, 1, 3, 6, 8, 3]
    N = len(W)
    K = 20

    print(findMaxCost(W, C, N, K))

    # This code is contributed by gaurav01.
C#
// C# code to find maximum cost of
// a segment whose weight is at most K.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
public class GFG{

  // Function to find the maximum cost of
  // a segment whose weight is at most K.
  static int findMaxCost(int []W, int []C, 
                         int N, int K)
  {    

    // Variable to keep track 
    // of current weight. 
    int weight = 0;

    // Variable to keep track 
    // of current cost. 
    int cost = 0;

    // Variable to keep track of
    // maximum cost of a segment
    // whose weight is at most K.
    int maxCost = 0;

    // Loop to implement 
    // sliding window technique
    int l = 0;
    for (int r = 0; r < N; r++) {

      // Add current element to the window.
      weight += W[r];
      cost += C[r];

      // Keep removing elements 
      // from the start of current window 
      // while weight is greater than K
      while(weight > K)
      {
        weight -= W[l];
        cost -= C[l];
        l++;
      }

      // Update maxCost
      maxCost = Math.Max(maxCost, cost);
    }
    return maxCost;
  }

  // Driver code
  public static void Main(String[] args)
  {
    int []W = {9, 7, 6, 5, 8, 4};
    int []C = {7, 1, 3, 6, 8, 3};
    int N = W.Length;
    int K = 20;

    Console.Write(findMaxCost(W, C, N, K));
  }
}

// This code is contributed by shikhasingrajput 
JavaScript
<script>
    // JavaScript code to find maximum cost of
    // a segment whose weight is at most K.

    // Function to find the maximum cost of
    // a segment whose weight is at most K.
    const findMaxCost = (W, C, N, K) => {
    
        // Variable to keep track
        // of current weight.
        let weight = 0;

        // Variable to keep track
        // of current cost.
        let cost = 0;

        // Variable to keep track of
        // maximum cost of a segment
        // whose weight is at most K.
        let maxCost = 0;

        // Loop to implement
        // sliding window technique
        let l = 0;
        for (let r = 0; r < N; r++) {

            // Add current element to the window.
            weight += W[r];
            cost += C[r];
            
            // Keep removing elements
            // from the start of current window
            // while weight is greater than K
            while (weight > K) {
                weight -= W[l];
                cost -= C[l];
                l++;
            }

            // Update maxCost
            maxCost = Math.max(maxCost, cost);
        }
        return maxCost;
    }

    // Driver code

    let W = [9, 7, 6, 5, 8, 4];
    let C = [7, 1, 3, 6, 8, 3];
    let N = W.length;
    let K = 20;

    document.write(findMaxCost(W, C, N, K));

// This code is contributed by rakesh sahani.
</script>

Output
17

Time Complexity: O(N), as we are using a loop to traverse N times.

Auxiliary Space: O(1), as we are not using any extra space.


 

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