Division Without Operator

MediumPython

Problem

The Weedmaps backend may need a small arithmetic utility in a restricted execution environment. Implement integer division without using the division operator or equivalent built-in operations.

Given two integers dividend and divisor, return the quotient truncated toward zero. You may use addition, subtraction, comparisons, and bit-shift operators, but do not use /, //, %, divmod, or floating-point arithmetic.

The divisor is guaranteed to be nonzero. The implementation should avoid subtracting the divisor one time per quotient unit, since that can be too slow for large values. Use repeated doubling or another logarithmic technique.

Formal Specification

Input: Two integers, dividend and divisor.
Output: An integer equal to dividend / divisor, truncated toward zero.
Preserve the correct sign when exactly one input is negative.

Constraints

-2^31 <= dividend <= 2^31 - 1
-2^31 <= divisor <= 2^31 - 1
divisor != 0
Do not use /, //, %, divmod, or floating-point arithmetic

Function Signature

def divide_integers(dividend, divisor):

The Weedmaps backend may need a small arithmetic utility in a restricted execution environment. Implement integer division without using the division operator or equivalent built-in operations.

Formal Specification

Input: Two integers, dividend and divisor.
Output: An integer equal to dividend / divisor, truncated toward zero.
Preserve the correct sign when exactly one input is negative.