Minimum Distance from a given Cell to all other Cells of a Matrix

Namachila November 18, 2025

0 0 7 minutes read

Given two integers R and C, denoting the number of rows and columns in a matrix, and two integers X and Y, the task is to find the minimum distance from the given cell to all other cells of the matrix.

Examples:

Input: R = 5, C = 5, X = 2, Y = 2
Output:
2 2 2 2 2
2 1 1 1 2
2 1 0 1 2
2 1 1 1 2
2 2 2 2 2

Input: R = 5, C = 5, X = 1, Y = 1
Output:
1 1 1 2 3
1 0 1 2 3
1 1 1 2 3
2 2 2 2 3
3 3 3 3 3

Approach:
Follow the steps below to solve the problem:

Assign the distance of the initial cells as 0.
Initialize a Queue and insert the pair {X, Y} into the Queue.
Iterate until the Queue is not empty, and for every unvisited cell, assign the current distance and insert the index {i, j} into the Queue using the BFS technique.
Print the distance of each cell at the end.

Below is the implementation of the above approach:

C++

// C++ Program to implement
// the above approach
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
 
int mat[1001][1001];
int r, c, x, y;
 
// Stores the accessible directions
int dx[] = { 0, -1, -1, -1, 0, 1, 1, 1 };
int dy[] = { 1, 1, 0, -1, -1, -1, 0, 1 };
 
// Function to find the minimum distance from a
// given cell to all other cells in the matrix
void FindMinimumDistance()
{
    // Stores the accessible cells
    // from current cell
    queue<pair<int, int> > q;
 
    // Insert pair (x, y)
    q.push({ x, y });
    mat[x][y] = 0;
 
    // Iterate until queue is empty
    while (!q.empty()) {
 
        // Extract the pair
        x = q.front().first;
        y = q.front().second;
 
        // Pop them
        q.pop();
 
        for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++) {
            int a = x + dx[i];
            int b = y + dy[i];
 
            // Checking boundary condition
            if (a < 0 || a >= r || b >= c || b < 0)
                continue;
 
            // If the cell is not visited
            if (mat[a][b] == 0) {
 
                // Assign the minimum distance
                mat[a][b] = mat[x][y] + 1;
 
                // Insert the traversed neighbour
                // into the queue
                q.push({ a, b });
            }
        }
    }
}
 
// Driver Code
int main()
{
    r = 5, c = 5, x = 1, y = 1;
 
    int t = x;
    int l = y;
    mat[x][y] = 0;
 
    FindMinimumDistance();
 
    mat[t][l] = 0;
 
    // Print the required distances
    for (int i = 0; i < r; i++) {
        for (int j = 0; j < c; j++) {
            cout << mat[i][j] << " ";
        }
        cout << endl;
    }
}

Java

// Java program to implement
// the above approach
import java.util.*;
 
class GFG{
     
static class pair
{ 
    int first, second; 
    public pair(int first, int second) 
    { 
        this.first = first; 
        this.second = second; 
    } 
} 
 
static int [][]mat = new int[1001][1001];
static int r, c, x, y;
 
// Stores the accessible directions
static int dx[] = { 0, -1, -1, -1, 0, 1, 1, 1 };
static int dy[] = { 1, 1, 0, -1, -1, -1, 0, 1 };
 
// Function to find the minimum distance from a
// given cell to all other cells in the matrix
static void FindMinimumDistance()
{
     
    // Stores the accessible cells
    // from current cell
    Queue<pair> q = new LinkedList<>();
 
    // Insert pair (x, y)
    q.add(new pair(x, y));
    mat[x][y] = 0;
 
    // Iterate until queue is empty
    while (!q.isEmpty())
    {
         
        // Extract the pair
        x = q.peek().first;
        y = q.peek().second;
 
        // Pop them
        q.remove();
 
        for(int i = 0; i < 8; i++)
        {
            int a = x + dx[i];
            int b = y + dy[i];
 
            // Checking boundary condition
            if (a < 0 || a >= r ||
               b >= c || b < 0)
                continue;
 
            // If the cell is not visited
            if (mat[a][b] == 0) 
            {
                 
                // Assign the minimum distance
                mat[a][b] = mat[x][y] + 1;
 
                // Insert the traversed neighbour
                // into the queue
                q.add(new pair(a, b));
            }
        }
    }
}
 
// Driver Code
public static void main(String[] args)
{
    r = 5; c = 5; x = 1; y = 1;
 
    int t = x;
    int l = y;
    mat[x][y] = 0;
 
    FindMinimumDistance();
 
    mat[t][l] = 0;
 
    // Print the required distances
    for(int i = 0; i < r; i++)
    {
        for(int j = 0; j < c; j++)
        {
            System.out.print(mat[i][j] + " ");
        }
        System.out.println();
    }
}
}
 
// This code is contributed by Amit Katiyar

Python3

# Python3 program to implement
# the above approach
mat = [[0 for x in range(1001)] 
          for y in range(1001)]
 
# Stores the accessible directions
dx = [ 0, -1, -1, -1, 0, 1, 1, 1 ]
dy = [ 1, 1, 0, -1, -1, -1, 0, 1 ]
 
# Function to find the minimum distance
# from a given cell to all other cells
# in the matrix
def FindMinimumDistance():
     
    global x, y, r, c
 
    # Stores the accessible cells
    # from current cell
    q = []
 
    # Insert pair (x, y)
    q.append([x, y])
    mat[x][y] = 0
 
    # Iterate until queue is empty
    while(len(q) != 0):
 
        # Extract the pair
        x = q[0][0]
        y = q[0][1]
 
        # Pop them
        q.pop(0)
 
        for i in range(8):
            a = x + dx[i]
            b = y + dy[i]
 
            # Checking boundary condition
            if(a < 0 or a >= r or
              b >= c or b < 0):
                continue
 
            # If the cell is not visited
            if(mat[a][b] == 0):
 
                # Assign the minimum distance
                mat[a][b] = mat[x][y] + 1
 
                # Insert the traversed neighbour
                # into the queue
                q.append([a, b])
 
# Driver Code
r = 5
c = 5
x = 1
y = 1
t = x
l = y
 
mat[x][y] = 0
 
FindMinimumDistance()
mat[t][l] = 0
 
# Print the required distances 
for i in range(r):
    for j in range(c):
        print(mat[i][j], end = " ")
         
    print()
 
# This code is contributed by Shivam Singh

C#

// C# program to implement
// the above approach
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
 
class GFG{
     
class pair
{ 
    public int first, second; 
    public pair(int first, int second) 
    { 
        this.first = first; 
        this.second = second; 
    } 
} 
 
static int [,]mat = new int[1001, 1001];
static int r, c, x, y;
 
// Stores the accessible directions
static int []dx = { 0, -1, -1, -1, 0, 1, 1, 1 };
static int []dy = { 1, 1, 0, -1, -1, -1, 0, 1 };
 
// Function to find the minimum distance from a
// given cell to all other cells in the matrix
static void FindMinimumDistance()
{
     
    // Stores the accessible cells
    // from current cell
    Queue<pair> q = new Queue<pair>();
 
    // Insert pair (x, y)
    q.Enqueue(new pair(x, y));
    mat[x, y] = 0;
 
    // Iterate until queue is empty
    while (q.Count != 0)
    {
         
        // Extract the pair
        x = q.Peek().first;
        y = q.Peek().second;
 
        // Pop them
        q.Dequeue();
 
        for(int i = 0; i < 8; i++)
        {
            int a = x + dx[i];
            int b = y + dy[i];
 
            // Checking boundary condition
            if (a < 0 || a >= r ||
                b >= c || b < 0)
                continue;
 
            // If the cell is not visited
            if (mat[a, b] == 0) 
            {
                 
                // Assign the minimum distance
                mat[a, b] = mat[x, y] + 1;
 
                // Insert the traversed neighbour
                // into the queue
                q.Enqueue(new pair(a, b));
            }
        }
    }
}
 
// Driver Code
public static void Main(String[] args)
{
    r = 5; c = 5; x = 1; y = 1;
 
    int t = x;
    int l = y;
    mat[x, y] = 0;
 
    FindMinimumDistance();
 
    mat[t, l] = 0;
 
    // Print the required distances
    for(int i = 0; i < r; i++)
    {
        for(int j = 0; j < c; j++)
        {
            Console.Write(mat[i, j] + " ");
        }
        Console.WriteLine();
    }
}
}
 
// This code is contributed by shikhasingrajput

Javascript

<script>
    // Javascript Program to implement the above approach
     
    let mat = new Array(1001);
    for(let i = 0; i < 1001; i++)
    {
        mat[i] = new Array(1001);
        for(let j = 0; j < 1001; j++)
        {    
            mat[i][j] = 0;
        }
    }
    let r, c, x, y;
 
    // Stores the accessible directions
    let dx = [ 0, -1, -1, -1, 0, 1, 1, 1 ];
    let dy = [ 1, 1, 0, -1, -1, -1, 0, 1 ];
 
    // Function to find the minimum distance from a
    // given cell to all other cells in the matrix
    function FindMinimumDistance()
    {
        // Stores the accessible cells
        // from current cell
        let q = [];
 
        // Insert pair (x, y)
        q.push([ x, y ]);
        mat[x][y] = 0;
 
        // Iterate until queue is empty
        while (q.length > 0) {
 
            // Extract the pair
            x = q[0][0];
            y = q[0][1];
 
            // Pop them
            q.shift();
 
            for (let i = 0; i < 8; i++) {
                let a = x + dx[i];
                let b = y + dy[i];
 
                // Checking boundary condition
                if (a < 0 || a >= r || b >= c || b < 0)
                    continue;
 
                // If the cell is not visited
                if (mat[a][b] == 0) {
 
                    // Assign the minimum distance
                    mat[a][b] = mat[x][y] + 1;
 
                    // Insert the traversed neighbour
                    // into the queue
                    q.push([ a, b ]);
                }
            }
        }
    }
     
    r = 5, c = 5, x = 1, y = 1;
   
    let t = x;
    let l = y;
    mat[x][y] = 0;
   
    FindMinimumDistance();
   
    mat[t][l] = 0;
   
    // Print the required distances
    for (let i = 0; i < r; i++) {
        for (let j = 0; j < c; j++) {
            document.write(mat[i][j] + " ");
        }
        document.write("</br>");
    }
 
</script>

Output:

Time Complexity: O(R * C)
Auxiliary Space: O(R * C)

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