TikTok

Calculate minimum cost for server purchases with special offer.

Problem: Given n servers with prices, apply special offer (half price) to one server to minimize total cost.

Example: Input:

• n = 3
• prices = [1, 4, 1]

Process:

1. Apply offer to second server: [1, 2, 1]
2. Calculate cost: |1-2| + |2-1| = 2

Requirements:

• Handle all possible offer applications
• Calculate minimum total cost
• Consider adjacent server price differences