Go Slice Manipulation: Custom Splice Function

This challenge focuses on understanding and implementing slice manipulation in Go, specifically mimicking the behavior of a splice operation found in other languages. You will create a function that can insert, delete, or replace elements within a slice at a specified index.

Problem Description

The goal is to implement a function in Go that behaves like a splice operation. This function should allow you to modify a slice by removing elements, inserting new elements, or both, at a given index.

Your splice function should take the following arguments:

1. slice: The original slice to be modified.
2. index: The index at which to start changing the slice.
3. deleteCount: The number of elements to remove from the slice, starting at index.
4. ...elements: A variable number of elements to insert into the slice at index.

The function should return the modified slice.

Key Requirements:

• The function must handle cases where deleteCount is 0 (insertion only), where elements is empty (deletion only), and where both operations occur.
• The function should gracefully handle out-of-bounds index and deleteCount values.
• The function should work with slices of any comparable type (e.g., int, string, float64). To achieve this, use Go's generics.

Expected Behavior:

• If index is negative, it should be treated as len(slice) + index.
• If index is greater than len(slice), it should be treated as len(slice).
• If deleteCount is negative, it should be treated as 0.
• If deleteCount is greater than the remaining elements from index to the end of the slice, it should be capped at that number.
• The function should return a new slice representing the modified state; it should not modify the original slice in place (as slices in Go are reference types, this is a common consideration).

Examples

Example 1: Insert elements without deletion.

Input:
slice = []int{1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
index = 2
deleteCount = 0
elementsToInsert = []int{99, 100}

Output:
[]int{1, 2, 99, 100, 3, 4, 5}

Explanation:
At index 2, we insert `99` and `100`. No elements are deleted.

Example 2: Delete elements without insertion.

Input:
slice = []string{"a", "b", "c", "d", "e"}
index = 1
deleteCount = 2
elementsToInsert = []string{}

Output:
[]string{"a", "d", "e"}

Explanation:
At index 1, we delete 2 elements ("b" and "c"). No elements are inserted.

Example 3: Replace elements.

Input:
slice = []float64{1.1, 2.2, 3.3, 4.4, 5.5}
index = 3
deleteCount = 2
elementsToInsert = []float64{7.7, 8.8, 9.9}

Output:
[]float64{1.1, 2.2, 3.3, 7.7, 8.8, 9.9}

Explanation:
At index 3, we delete 2 elements (4.4 and 5.5) and insert `7.7`, `8.8`, and `9.9`.

Example 4: Edge case: Negative index.

Input:
slice = []int{10, 20, 30, 40}
index = -2 // Treated as len(slice) + (-2) = 4 - 2 = 2
deleteCount = 1
elementsToInsert = []int{25}

Output:
[]int{10, 20, 25, 40}

Explanation:
Index -2 is equivalent to index 2. We delete one element (30) and insert 25.

Example 5: Edge case: deleteCount exceeding available elements.

Input:
slice = []string{"apple", "banana", "cherry"}
index = 1
deleteCount = 5 // Capped at 2 (remaining elements from index 1)
elementsToInsert = []string{"blueberry"}

Output:
[]string{"apple", "blueberry"}

Explanation:
At index 1, we intend to delete 5 elements. However, only "banana" and "cherry" remain from index 1. So, 2 elements are deleted. Then, "blueberry" is inserted.

Constraints

• The splice function should be generic and work with any type T.
• The input slice can have a length between 0 and 1000.
• deleteCount will be between 0 and 1000.
• The number of elements to insert will be between 0 and 1000.
• The total number of elements in the resulting slice should not exceed 2000.

Notes

• Consider how to combine the slice before the index, the elements to be inserted, and the slice after the deletion.
• Pay close attention to index calculations and boundary conditions.
• Go's built-in slice operations like append and slicing (slice[a:b]) will be very useful here.
• Remember that append can take multiple elements using the ... spread operator.