Problem:
Score : 200 points

Problem Statement

We have a permutation p = {p_1,\ p_2,\ ...,\ p_n} of {1,\ 2,\ ...,\ n}.

Print the number of elements p_i (1 < i < n) that satisfy the following condition:

p_i is the second smallest number among the three numbers p_{i - 1}, p_i, and p_{i + 1}.

Constraints

All values in input are integers.

3 \leq n \leq 20

p is a permutation of {1,\ 2,\ ...,\ n}.

Input

Input is given from Standard Input in the following format:

n
p_1 p_2 ... p_n

Output

Print the number of elements p_i (1 < i < n) that satisfy the condition.

Sample Input 1

5
1 3 5 4 2

Sample Output 1

2

p_2 = 3 is the second smallest number among p_1 = 1, p_2 = 3, and p_3 = 5. Also, p_4 = 4 is the second smallest number among p_3 = 5, p_4 = 4, and p_5 = 2. These two elements satisfy the condition.

Sample Input 2

9
9 6 3 2 5 8 7 4 1

Sample Output 2

5

Solution in Go (1.6) (judge verdict: Accepted)

package main

import (
	"bufio"
	"bytes"
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"os"
	"sort"
	"strconv"
)

var DEBUG = true

func main() {
	defer Flush()
	n, p := readInts(0)

	var ans int
	for i := 1; i+1 < n; i++ {
		x := make([]int, 3)
		for j := 0; j < 3; j++ {
			x[j] = p[j+i-1]
		}
		sort.Ints(x)
		if p[i] == x[1] {
			ans++
		}
	}
	println(ans)

}

// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

// IO helper functions

// Returns next token from input.  It must be initialized by SetInput()
// before the first call.
var nextToken func() ([]byte, error)
var nextLine func() ([]byte, error)

// Holds a buffer for output.  It must be initialized by SetOutput().
// All IO fucntions (read*() and [e]print*()) should write to OutputWriter
// instead of this.
var OutputBuffer *bufio.Writer

// Holds an io.Writer.  It must be initialized by SetOutput()
var OutputWriter io.Writer

// Set IO functions for interactive input/output.
func SetInteractive(w io.Writer, r io.Reader) {
	SetUnbefferedInput(r)
	OutputBuffer = nil
	OutputWriter = w
}

// Setup OutputBuffer and OutputWriter.
func SetOutput(w io.Writer) {
	OutputBuffer = bufio.NewWriter(w)
	OutputWriter = OutputBuffer
}

// Flushes OutputBuffer
func Flush() {
	if OutputBuffer != nil {
		OutputBuffer.Flush()
	}
}

// Returns true if c is a white space
func IsSpace(c byte) bool {
	switch c {
	case '\t', '\n', '\v', '\f', '\r', ' ':
		return true
	}
	return false
}

func IsNewLine(c byte) bool {
	switch c {
	case '\n', '\r':
		return true
	}
	return false
}

// Setup nextToken with input buffer.
func SetInput(r io.Reader) {
	buf := new(bytes.Buffer)
	var b []byte

	var i int
	rest := func() ([]byte, error) {
		for i < len(b) && IsSpace(b[i]) {
			i++
		}
		if i == len(b) {
			return nil, io.ErrUnexpectedEOF
		}
		j := i
		for i < len(b) && !IsSpace(b[i]) {
			i++
		}
		return b[j:i], nil
	}
	initial := func() ([]byte, error) {
		io.Copy(buf, r)
		b = buf.Bytes()
		nextToken = rest
		return rest()
	}
	nextToken = initial

	restLn := func() ([]byte, error) {
		for i < len(b) && IsNewLine(b[i]) {
			i++
		}
		if i == len(b) {
			return nil, io.ErrUnexpectedEOF
		}
		j := i
		for i < len(b) && !IsNewLine(b[i]) {
			i++
		}
		return b[j:i], nil
	}

	initialLn := func() ([]byte, error) {
		io.Copy(buf, r)
		b = buf.Bytes()
		nextLine = restLn
		return restLn()
	}
	nextLine = initialLn
}

// Setup nextToken without input buffer.
func SetUnbefferedInput(r io.Reader) {
	buf := bufio.NewReader(r)
	var b []byte

	var i int
	nextToken = func() ([]byte, error) {
		var err error
		if i == len(b) {
			b, err = buf.ReadBytes('\n')
			if err != nil {
				return nil, err
			}
			i = 0
			j := len(b) - 1
			for 0 <= j && IsSpace(b[j]) {
				j--
			}
			b = b[0 : j+1]
		}
		for i < len(b) && IsSpace(b[i]) {
			i++
		}
		j := i
		for i < len(b) && !IsSpace(b[i]) {
			i++
		}
		if i == j {
			return nil, io.ErrUnexpectedEOF
		}
		return b[j:i], nil
	}
}

// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

// IO functions

// Reads next token and return it as []byte
func readb() []byte {
	b, err := nextToken()
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	return b[:len(b):len(b)]
}

// Reads next token and return it as string
func reads() string {
	return string(readb())
}

// Read next line as []byte.  Trailing '\n' will not be included.
// See also comments on readb()
func readbln() []byte {
	b, err := nextLine()
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	return b[:len(b):len(b)]
}

// Read next line as string
func readsln() string {
	return string(readbln())
}

// Reads next token and return it as int64
func readll() int64 {
	i, err := strconv.ParseInt(reads(), 10, 64)
	if err != nil {
		panic(err.Error())
	}
	return i
}

// Reads next token and return it as int
func readi() int {
	return int(readll())
}

// Reads next token and return it as float64
func readf() float64 {
	f, err := strconv.ParseFloat(reads(), 64)
	if err != nil {
		panic(err.Error())
	}
	return f
}

// Write args to OutputWriter with the format f
func printf(f string, args ...interface{}) (int, error) {
	return fmt.Fprintf(OutputWriter, f, args...)
}

// Write args to OutputWriter without format
func println(args ...interface{}) (int, error) {
	return fmt.Fprintln(OutputWriter, args...)
}

// Write args to stderr with the format f
func eprintf(f string, args ...interface{}) (int, error) {
	return fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, f, args...)
}

// Write args to stderr without format
func eprintln(args ...interface{}) (int, error) {
	return fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, args...)
}

func dbgf(f string, args ...interface{}) {
	if !DEBUG {
		return
	}
	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, f, args...)
}

func dbg(args ...interface{}) {
	if !DEBUG {
		return
	}
	fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, args...)
}

// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

// Utilities

func sumSlice(a []int) int {
	var res int
	for _, v := range a {
		res += v
	}
	return res
}

func sumSlicell(a []int64) int64 {
	var res int64
	for _, v := range a {
		res += v
	}
	return res
}

func readInts(N int) (int, []int) {
	if N == 0 {
		N = readi()
	}
	a := make([]int, N)
	for i := range a {
		a[i] = readi()
	}
	return N, a
}

func readIntsll(N int) (int, []int64) {
	if N == 0 {
		N = readi()
	}
	a := make([]int64, N)
	for i := range a {
		a[i] = readll()
	}
	return N, a
}

// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

// Simple math functions

const (
	// big prime
	INF  = 1000000007
	INF2 = 1000000009
	INF3 = 998244353
)

func min(a, b int) int {
	if a < b {
		return a
	}
	return b
}

func minll(a, b int64) int64 {
	if a < b {
		return a
	}
	return b
}

func minf(a, b float64) float64 {
	if a < b {
		return a
	}
	return b
}

func max(a, b int) int {
	if a < b {
		return b
	}
	return a
}

func maxll(a, b int64) int64 {
	if a < b {
		return b
	}
	return a
}

func maxf(a, b float64) float64 {
	if a < b {
		return b
	}
	return a
}

func abs(a int) int {
	if a < 0 {
		return -a
	}
	return a
}

func absll(a int64) int64 {
	if a < 0 {
		return -a
	}
	return a
}

func absf(a float64) float64 {
	if a < 0 {
		return -a
	}
	return a
}

// egcd(a, b) returns d, x, y:
//   d is gcd(a,b)
//   x, y are  integers that satisfy ax + by = d
func egcd(a, b int) (int, int, int) {
	if b == 0 {
		return a, 1, 0
	}
	d, x, y := egcd(b, a%b)
	return d, y, x - a/b*y
}

func egcdll(a, b int64) (int64, int64, int64) {
	if b == 0 {
		return a, 1, 0
	}
	d, x, y := egcdll(b, a%b)
	return d, y, x - a/b*y
}

func gcd(a, b int) int {
	d, _, _ := egcd(a, b)
	return d
}

func gcdll(a, b int64) int64 {
	d, _, _ := egcdll(a, b)
	return d
}

// set up IO functions
func init() {
	// for non-interactive
	SetInput(os.Stdin)
	SetOutput(os.Stdout)

	// Enable below when interactive.  Its ok to leave above intact.
	// SetInteractive(os.Stdout, os.Stdin)
}