Alternating Triplets

Given an array, inspect every adjacent triple and count triples where the middle element is greater than both neighbors or less than both neighbors. Requirements Input: an array. For each adjacent triple (a[i], a[i+1], a[i+2]), check whether the middle element is a strict local maximum or strict local minimum. Count triples satisfying either condition: a[i] < a[i+1] > a[i+2] a[i] > a[i+1] < a[i+2] Return the count. Notes This is a one-pass scan over windows of length three. Equality should not count unless the interviewer explicitly changes the rule; the phrase "middle high / middle low" implies strict inequality. For arrays of length less than three, return 0. Preparation Write the strict comparison version first. Test equal adjacent values, length-two arrays, monotonic arrays, and fully alternating arrays.