Kotlin function to remove duplicate consecutive elements in a list, up to maxN duplicate consecutive elements

normalize.kt

/**
 * Removes duplicate consecutive elements in a list, up to maxN duplicate consecutive elements
 * per group.
 * Ex. where maxN = 2:
 * [0, 0, 1, 2, 2, 4, 4, 4, 4] => [0, 1, 2, 4, 4]
 */
fun <T> List<T>.normalize(maxN: Int): List<T> {
    var nextIndexToConsider = 0

    return windowed(size = maxN, step = 1, partialWindows = true)
        .mapIndexed { index, window ->
            val shouldSkipThisItem = index < nextIndexToConsider
            if (shouldSkipThisItem) {
                emptyList()
            } else {
                val consecutiveRepeatedItemsInThisWindow = window.takeWhile { it == window.first() }
                nextIndexToConsider += consecutiveRepeatedItemsInThisWindow.size

                listOf(window.first())
            }
        }.flatten()
}