Binary_Gap.py

"""
Task: BinaryGap
Goal: Find longest sequence of zeros in binary representation of an integer.
Website: https://app.codility.com/programmers/lessons/1-iterations/binary_gap/
-----------------------------------------------------------

A binary gap within a positive integer N is any maximal sequence of 
consecutive zeros that is surrounded by ones at both ends in the binary 
representation of N.

For example, number 9 has binary representation 1001 and contains a binary 
gap of length 2. The number 529 has binary representation 1000010001 and 
contains two binary gaps: one of length 4 and one of length 3. The number 
20 has binary representation 10100 and contains one binary gap of length 1. 
The number 15 has binary representation 1111 and has no binary gaps.

Write a function:

def solution(N)

that, given a positive integer N, returns the length of its longest binary 
gap. The function should return 0 if N doesn't contain a binary gap.

For example, given N = 1041 the function should return 5, because N has 
binary representation 10000010001 and so its longest binary gap is of length 5.

Assume that:

N is an integer within the range [1..2,147,483,647].
Complexity:

expected worst-case time complexity is O(log(N));
expected worst-case space complexity is O(1).
"""

def solution(N):
    binary = "{0:b}".format(N) # get binary format
    split_binary = binary.split("1") # Split into groupings
    
    lengths = []
    
    split_binary_lenght = len(split_binary)
    
    if split_binary[split_binary_lenght - 1] != '': # Check if last element is zeros
        split_binary = split_binary[:split_binary_lenght-1] # Delete last element if ends in zeros
    
    for element in split_binary:
        lengths.append(element.count('0')) # Append the lenght of each element that contains zeros
                 
    return max(lengths) # Return the binary gap