LeetCode 1167: Minimum Cost to Connect Sticks Solution

Master LeetCode problem 1167 (Minimum Cost to Connect Sticks), a medium challenge, with our optimized solutions in Java, C++, and Python. Explore detailed explanations, test your code in our interactive editor, and prepare for coding interviews.

1167. Minimum Cost to Connect Sticks

Medium

Array Greedy Heap (Priority Queue)

Problem Explanation

Explanation:

To solve this problem, we can use a priority queue (min heap) to keep track of the current smallest sticks. At each step, we can pop the two smallest sticks from the priority queue, combine them, and add the cost of the combined stick back to the priority queue. We repeat this process until there is only one stick left in the priority queue, which will be the minimum cost to connect all the sticks.

Initialize a priority queue (min heap) with all the given sticks.
While the priority queue has more than one stick:
- Pop the two smallest sticks from the priority queue.
- Combine the two sticks and calculate the cost.
- Add the cost of the combined stick back to the priority queue.
The remaining stick in the priority queue will be the minimum cost to connect all sticks. :

Solution Code

import java.util.PriorityQueue;

class Solution {
    public int connectSticks(int[] sticks) {
        PriorityQueue<Integer> pq = new PriorityQueue<>();
        for (int stick : sticks) {
            pq.offer(stick);
        }
        
        int cost = 0;
        while (pq.size() > 1) {
            int stick1 = pq.poll();
            int stick2 = pq.poll();
            int combinedStick = stick1 + stick2;
            cost += combinedStick;
            pq.offer(combinedStick);
        }
        
        return cost;
    }
}

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