Syllabus Lesson 5 of 141 · The blind start
The blind start

Baseline 4: the missing cent

AI off This is a baseline exam. The tutor is switched off and there are no hints. Work alone, the way you would with no assistant open. Nothing here is a trick: every rule is written in the exercise. Your result is only compared with your own final exam at the end of the course.

A shared-expenses app splits bills between friends. A user reports that splitting 1 euro three ways loses a cent. The ticket includes one example; the code is below.

def split_bill(total, people):
    share = total // people
    return [share] * people

split_bill(100, 3)   # [33, 33, 33], expected [34, 33, 33]
Your turn

Fix split_bill(total, people) in the starter. It splits a bill of total cents (a whole number) between people (at least 1). The rules: the shares add up exactly to total, no two shares differ by more than 1 cent, and the list is in order, largest first. The bug report says split_bill(100, 3) returns [33, 33, 33] but should be [34, 33, 33]. The hidden tests try hundreds of totals and group sizes, and also refunds: total can be negative, and the same three rules apply.

AI off: no tutor, hints or worked solution on this one. Your own thinking only.

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