3Sum Closest LeetCode Solution in Java

Day 51 of Daily DSA 🚀 Solved LeetCode 83: Remove Duplicates from Sorted List ✅ Problem: Given the head of a sorted linked list, delete all duplicates such that each element appears only once. Approach: Used a single pointer traversal since the list is already sorted, making duplicate detection straightforward. Steps: Start from head node Compare current node with next node If values are same → skip next node Else move current pointer forward Continue until end of list Return updated head ⏱ Complexity: • Time: O(n) • Space: O(1) 📊 LeetCode Stats: • Runtime: 0 ms (Beats 100%) ⚡ • Memory: 45.48 MB Sorted input often simplifies the logic — duplicates become adjacent and easy to remove. #DSA #LeetCode #Java #LinkedList #CodingJourney #ProblemSolving #Algorithms

Day 41 of Daily DSA 🚀 Solved LeetCode 20: Valid Parentheses ✅ Problem: Given a string containing only (), {}, [], determine if the input string is valid. Rules: Open brackets must be closed by the same type Open brackets must be closed in the correct order Every closing bracket must have a matching opening bracket Approach: Used a Stack to track opening brackets and validate matching pairs. Steps: Traverse the string Push opening brackets onto the stack For closing brackets → check top of stack If it matches → pop Else → return false At the end, stack should be empty ⏱ Complexity: • Time: O(n) • Space: O(n) 📊 LeetCode Stats: • Runtime: 3 ms (Beats 87.41%) ⚡ • Memory: 43.37 MB A classic stack problem that builds strong fundamentals for expression parsing & validation. #DSA #LeetCode #Java #Stack #ProblemSolving #CodingJourney #Consistency

💻 Day 80 – DSA Practice (Binary Trees) Today’s challenge: 👉 Find all root-to-leaf paths where the sum equals a given target. 🔹 Approach: Use Depth-First Search (DFS) Track the current path and remaining sum When reaching a leaf node, check if the sum matches 💡 Key Concepts: Recursion + Backtracking Tree traversal (DFS) Efficient sum handling ⚡ Insight: Reducing the target sum at each step makes the solution cleaner and avoids recalculating sums. #DSA #BinaryTree #Java #CodingJourney #100DaysOfCode #ProblemSolving

Day 44🚀 Solved Number of Islands — a classic DFS/BFS problem that really tests grid traversal and thinking in connected components. 💡 Key Takeaways: Learned how to treat the grid like a graph Used DFS to explore and mark visited land Strengthened understanding of recursion + boundary handling ⚡ Result: ✅ All test cases passed ⏱️ Optimized runtime 📈 Improving problem-solving speed day by day Consistency > Motivation. Showing up daily is the real win. #Day44 #LeetCode #DSA #Java #CodingJourney #Consistency #ProblemSolving

🚀 Day 62 of #100DaysOfCode 🌱 Topic: Trees / Recursion ✅ Problem Solved: LeetCode 112 – Path Sum 🛠 Approach: Used DFS (recursion) to explore all root-to-leaf paths. Base Case: If node is null → return false If leaf node: Check if target == node.val → return result Otherwise: Reduce target → target - node.val Recurse on left and right subtree #100DaysOfCode #Day62 #DSA #Trees #Recursion #DFS #LeetCode #Java #BinaryTree #ProblemSolving #CodingJourney #Consistency

Day 43 #SDE backtracking and constraint-based problems. Solved: • Restore IP Addresses • N-Queens Key Learning: • “Restore IP Addresses” involves backtracking with constraints, where we build valid segments (0–255) while handling edge cases like leading zeros. • “N-Queens” is a classic backtracking problem, where we place queens while ensuring no conflicts in rows, columns, and diagonals — strengthening constraint checking and pruning. #LeetCode #DSA #Backtracking #Recursion #Algorithms #Java #SoftwareEngineering

Day 59/100 | #100DaysOfDSA 🔍⚡ Today’s problem: Single Element in a Sorted Array A clever Binary Search problem with a twist. Key observation: In a sorted array where every element appears twice except one, pairs follow a pattern. Before the single element: • First occurrence → even index • Second occurrence → odd index After the single element: • Pattern breaks Approach: • Use binary search • Check mid with its pair using index trick (mid ^ 1) • If nums[mid] == nums[mid ^ 1] → move right • Else → move left This helps pinpoint where the pattern breaks. Time Complexity: O(log n) Space Complexity: O(1) Big takeaway: Bit manipulation + pattern observation can simplify binary search problems significantly. Small tricks → big optimizations. 🔥 Day 59 done. #100DaysOfCode #LeetCode #DSA #Algorithms #BinarySearch #BitManipulation #Arrays #Java #CodingJourney #ProblemSolving #InterviewPrep #TechCommunity

📘 DSA Journey — Day 35 Today’s focus: Binary Search with index patterns. Problem solved: • Single Element in a Sorted Array (LeetCode 540) Concepts used: • Binary Search • Index parity (even/odd pattern) • Search space reduction Key takeaway: The array is sorted and every element appears twice except one. A key observation: Before the single element, pairs start at even indices After the single element, this pattern breaks. Using binary search: • If mid is even and nums[mid] == nums[mid + 1], the single element lies on the right side • Else, it lies on the left side (including mid) By leveraging this pattern, we can find the answer in O(log n) time and O(1) space. Continuing to strengthen binary search intuition and consistency in problem solving. #DSA #Java #LeetCode #CodingJourney

🔥 Day 364 – Daily DSA Challenge! 🔥 Problem: 🎯 Find K Closest Elements Given a sorted array arr, an integer k, and a target x, return the k closest elements to x in ascending order. 💡 Key Insight — Binary Search on Window Instead of checking each element, we binary search the starting index of a window of size k. Search space: Possible windows → [0 ... n - k] 🧠 Decision Logic At index mid, compare: Distance of left boundary → x - arr[mid] Distance of right boundary → arr[mid + k] - x We choose direction based on: ⚡ Algorithm Steps ✅ Initialize: left = 0, right = n - k ✅ Binary search: If left side is farther → shift right Else → move left ✅ Final window starts at left ✅ Collect k elements ⚙️ Complexity ✅ Time Complexity: O(log(n - k) + k) (binary search + result building) ✅ Space Complexity: O(k) 💬 Challenge for you 1️⃣ Why do we search on window positions instead of elements? 2️⃣ Can you solve this using a heap approach? 3️⃣ What if array was unsorted? #DSA #Day364 #LeetCode #BinarySearch #SlidingWindow #Arrays #Java #ProblemSolving #KeepCoding

Day 9/ #100DaysOfCode Solved LeetCode 1848: Minimum Distance to the Target Element. Approach: The problem can be solved using a straightforward linear traversal. Iterate through the array and check for indices where the value equals the target. For each such index, compute the absolute difference between the current index and the given start index. Maintain a variable to track the minimum distance encountered during the traversal. Solution Insight: Initialize a variable with a large value (e.g., Integer.MAX_VALUE). Traverse the array once. Whenever the target element is found, update the minimum distance using Math.abs(i - start). Return the minimum value after the loop. Complexity: Time Complexity: O(n) Space Complexity: O(1) Result: 72/72 test cases passed with optimal runtime performance. This problem reinforces the importance of simple iteration and careful tracking of minimum values in array-based problems. #100DaysOfCode #LeetCode #DSA #Java #ProblemSolving #Algorithms