1
class Solution:
2
    def maxDistance(self, colors: List[int]) -> int:
3
        # first pass
4
        l, r = 0, len(colors) - 1
5
        dist = 0
6

7
        while r > l:
8
            if colors[r] != colors[l]:
9
                dist = r - l
10
                # slight performance increase, break out if you find it
11
                # because it can't get bigger than this
12
                break
13
            r -= 1
14

15
        # second pass, backwards
16
        l, r = 0, len(colors) - 1
17
        while r > l:
18
            if colors[r] != colors[l]:
19
                dist = max(dist, r - l)
20
                break
21
            l += 1
22

23
        return dist