From fed07059a3ccbc95ee944119ce30668902ac3391 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: giles <giles.bradshaw@rose-ash.com>
Date: Mon, 11 May 2026 05:44:38 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] ocaml: phase 5.1 gas_station.ml baseline (circular tour start
 = 3)

Classic O(n) greedy gas-station algorithm:

  walk once, tracking
    total = sum of (gas[i] - cost[i])  -- if negative, no answer
    curr  = running tank since start   -- on negative, advance
                                          start past i+1 and reset

  if total < 0 then -1 else start

For gas = [1;2;3;4;5], cost = [3;4;5;1;2], unique start = 3.

Tests `total` + `curr` parallel accumulators, reset-on-failure
pattern.

202 baseline programs total.
---
 lib/ocaml/baseline/expected.json  |  1 +
 lib/ocaml/baseline/gas_station.ml | 21 +++++++++++++++++++++
 plans/ocaml-on-sx.md              |  8 ++++++++
 3 files changed, 30 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 lib/ocaml/baseline/gas_station.ml

diff --git a/lib/ocaml/baseline/expected.json b/lib/ocaml/baseline/expected.json
index 255be66a..467d28c6 100644
--- a/lib/ocaml/baseline/expected.json
+++ b/lib/ocaml/baseline/expected.json
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@
   "fib_mod.ml": 391360,
   "fraction.ml": 7,
   "frequency.ml": 5,
+  "gas_station.ml": 3,
   "gcd_lcm.ml": 60,
   "gray_code.ml": 136,
   "grep_count.ml": 3,
diff --git a/lib/ocaml/baseline/gas_station.ml b/lib/ocaml/baseline/gas_station.ml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8f18870b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/ocaml/baseline/gas_station.ml
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+let gas_circuit gas cost =
+  let n = Array.length gas in
+  let total = ref 0 in
+  let curr = ref 0 in
+  let start = ref 0 in
+  for i = 0 to n - 1 do
+    let diff = gas.(i) - cost.(i) in
+    total := !total + diff;
+    curr := !curr + diff;
+    if !curr < 0 then begin
+      start := i + 1;
+      curr := 0
+    end
+  done;
+  if !total < 0 then -1 else !start
+
+;;
+
+let gas = [| 1; 2; 3; 4; 5 |] in
+let cost = [| 3; 4; 5; 1; 2 |] in
+gas_circuit gas cost
diff --git a/plans/ocaml-on-sx.md b/plans/ocaml-on-sx.md
index 2f2ff25a..c5c26809 100644
--- a/plans/ocaml-on-sx.md
+++ b/plans/ocaml-on-sx.md
@@ -407,6 +407,14 @@ _Newest first._
   binary search tree (`type 'a tree = Leaf | Node of 'a * 'a tree *
   'a tree`) with insert + in-order traversal. Tests parametric ADT,
   recursive match, List.append, List.fold_left.
+- 2026-05-11 Phase 5.1 — gas_station.ml baseline (find unique start
+  station for circular gas tour, gas=[1;2;3;4;5] cost=[3;4;5;1;2]
+  → start at index 3). Classic O(n) greedy: walk once tracking the
+  total tank delta (if negative, no solution → -1) and a running
+  tank that resets to 0 when it goes negative, advancing start
+  past the failing index. From station 3: tank 3,3+5,3+5−3,…
+  succeeds. Tests `total` + `curr` parallel accumulators, reset-
+  on-failure pattern. 202 baseline programs total.
 - 2026-05-11 Phase 5.1 — min_jumps.ml baseline (greedy BFS-like
   min jumps to reach end of [2;3;1;1;2;4;2;0;1;1] = 4). At each
   position track the farthest reach within the current "BFS