Months to reach a savings target
A plan asks how many whole months of flat saving are needed to top up a target balance.
- Every month the same whole amount is set aside, in minor units.
- A target of zero or less needs no saving at all.
- A monthlySaving of zero or less can never get there.
- Round months up — any partial month still costs a full one.
monthsToTarget(target: int, monthlySaving: int) → int
Java needs a compiler and Drill does not host one yet, so this page is the reference rather than an exercise: the problem, worked examples, and the solution in full. To type it out, the same problem runs in Python.
Where you start
int monthsToTarget(int target, int monthlySaving) {
}Worked examples
| Call | Result |
|---|---|
monthsToTarget(1000, 300) | 4 |
monthsToTarget(1000, 500) | 2 |
monthsToTarget(1000, 1000) | 1 |
monthsToTarget(0, 500) | 0 |
Hint
Ceil(target / saving) via (target + saving - 1) / saving.
Reference solution in Java
int monthsToTarget(int target, int monthlySaving) {
if (target <= 0 || monthlySaving <= 0) return 0;
return (target + monthlySaving - 1) / monthlySaving;
}