703949. Tough Competitors
Tough Competitors
Slug: tough-competitors0540 Difficulty: Basic Id: 703949 Topic Tags: Arrays, Data Structures, Sorting, Greedy Company Tags: None
Summary
The "Tough Competitors" problem is a basic algorithmic challenge that involves sorting and greedy algorithms. Given an array of integers, we need to find the number of pairs of elements such that their absolute difference is less than or equal to a given value K. The key concept involved in this problem is the use of sorting and greedy algorithms.
Detailed Explanation
The problem can be solved using a simple algorithmic approach. First, sort the array in ascending order. Then, iterate over the sorted array and maintain a count of pairs with an absolute difference less than or equal to K. If the current element is greater than the previous one by more than K, increment the count.
Here's a step-by-step breakdown of the solution:
- Sort the array in ascending order.
- Initialize a variable
countto keep track of the number of pairs with an absolute difference less than or equal toK. - Iterate over the sorted array, considering each pair of adjacent elements.
- For each pair, check if their absolute difference is less than or equal to
K. If it is, increment the count. - Continue this process until the end of the array is reached.
The time complexity of this solution is O(n log n) due to the sorting step, where n is the number of elements in the array. The space complexity is O(1), as we only use a constant amount of space to store the count and iterate over the array.
Optimized Solutions
Java
public int toughCompetitors(int[] arr, int K) {
Arrays.sort(arr);
int count = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < arr.length - 1; i++) {
if (arr[i + 1] - arr[i] <= K) {
count++;
} else {
break;
}
}
return count;
}