LeetCode 1011: Minimum Ship Capacity Within D Days

🚀 Day 74/100 – LeetCode Challenge 🔍 Problem Solved: Find the Duplicate Number (287) Today’s problem was a great reminder that sometimes the best solutions come from thinking differently 💡 Instead of using extra space or modifying the array, I used Floyd’s Cycle Detection Algorithm (Tortoise & Hare) — treating the array like a linked list to detect a cycle. 👉 Key Learnings: • Arrays can sometimes be visualized as linked structures • Cycle detection is not just for linked lists! • Optimizing for O(1) space is a common interview expectation ⚡ Approach: Use two pointers (slow & fast) First, find intersection point Then, find the cycle start → duplicate number ⏱ Time Complexity: O(n) 📦 Space Complexity: O(1) ✅ Successfully passed all test cases! Consistency > Perfection. Let’s keep going 💪 #Day74 #LeetCode #100DaysOfCode #Java #CodingInterview #ProblemSolving #DataStructures #Algorithms

🚀 Day 76 — Slow & Fast Pointer (Find the Duplicate Number) Continuing the cycle detection pattern — today I applied slow‑fast pointers to an array problem where the values act as pointers to indices. 📌 Problem Solved: - LeetCode 287 – Find the Duplicate Number 🧠 Key Learnings: 1️⃣ The Problem Twist  Given an array of length `n+1` containing integers from `1` to `n` (inclusive), with one duplicate. We must find the duplicate without modifying the array and using only O(1) extra space. 2️⃣ Why Slow‑Fast Pointer Works Here  - Treat the array as a linked list where `i` points to `nums[i]`.   - Because there’s a duplicate, two different indices point to the same value → a cycle exists in this implicit linked list.   - The duplicate number is exactly the entry point of the cycle (same logic as LeetCode 142).  3️⃣ The Algorithm in Steps - Phase 1 (detect cycle): `slow = nums[slow]`, `fast = nums[nums[fast]]`. Wait for them to meet.   - Phase 2 (find cycle start): Reset `slow = 0`, then move both one step at a time until they meet again. The meeting point is the duplicate. 4️⃣ Why Not Use Sorting or Hashing?   - Sorting modifies the array (not allowed).   - Hashing uses O(n) space (not allowed).   - Slow‑fast pointer runs in O(n) time and O(1) space — perfect for the constraints. 💡 Takeaway:  This problem beautifully demonstrates how the slow‑fast pattern transcends linked lists. Any structure where you can define a “next” function (here: `next(i) = nums[i]`) can be analyzed for cycles. Recognizing this abstraction is a superpower. No guilt about past breaks — just another pattern mastered, one day at a time. #DSA #SlowFastPointer #CycleDetection #FindDuplicateNumber #LeetCode #CodingJourney #Revision #Java #ProblemSolving #Consistency #GrowthMindset #TechCommunity #LearningInPublic

🚀 Day 45 of #100DaysOfCode Solved 209. Minimum Size Subarray Sum on LeetCode 📊 🧠 Key Insight: We need to find the smallest length subarray whose sum is ≥ target. A brute-force approach would be O(n²), but this can be optimized using the Sliding Window (Two Pointers) technique. ⚙️ Approach: 1️⃣ Initialize two pointers: left = 0 and iterate right 2️⃣ Keep adding elements to curr_sum 3️⃣ Once curr_sum ≥ target, try to shrink the window: 🔹Update minimum length 🔹Remove nums[left] and move left forward 4️⃣ Repeat until the entire array is processed This ensures we always maintain the smallest valid window. ⏱️ Time Complexity: O(n) 📦 Space Complexity: O(1) #100DaysOfCode #LeetCode #DSA #SlidingWindow #Arrays #Algorithms #Java #InterviewPrep #CodingJourney

🚀 Day 46 of #100DaysOfCode Solved 719. Find K-th Smallest Pair Distance on LeetCode 📏 🧠 Key Insight: We need to find the k-th smallest absolute difference among all possible pairs in the array. Brute force (generating all pairs) would be O(n²) → not efficient. Instead, we use Binary Search on Answer + Two Pointers. ⚙️ Approach: 1️⃣ Sort the array 2️⃣ Define search space: 🔹left = 0 (minimum distance) 🔹right = max(nums) - min(nums) 3️⃣ Apply Binary Search: 🔹For a given mid, count how many pairs have distance ≤ mid 4️⃣ Counting pairs efficiently: 🔹Use two pointers 🔹For each i, move j while nums[j] - nums[i] ≤ mid 🔹Add (j - i - 1) to count 5️⃣ If count ≥ k → try smaller distance 6️⃣ Else → increase distance 🎯 Final answer = smallest distance satisfying the condition ⏱️ Time Complexity: O(n log n + n log D) 🔹Sorting + Binary Search with linear check 📦 Space Complexity: O(1) #100DaysOfCode #LeetCode #DSA #BinarySearch #TwoPointers #Algorithms #Java #InterviewPrep #CodingJourney

🚀 #100DaysOfCode | Day 48 🔍 Solved: Find Peak Element Today I worked on an interesting Binary Search problem where the goal was to find a peak element in an array. 💡Key Insight: By comparing the middle element with its next element, we can determine the direction of the peak. 📌 Approach: ✔ Applied Binary Search for O(log n) efficiency ✔ Compared mid with next element ✔ Moved towards the increasing side to find peak ✔ Reduced search space step by step Why this works: Since adjacent elements are not equal, there will always be at least one peak. By comparing neighboring elements, we can decide the direction and reduce the search space efficiently. 🎯 What I Learned: This problem showed how Binary Search can be used beyond searching—especially for identifying patterns like peaks in arrays. #Java #DSA #LeetCode #BinarySearch #CodingJourney #ProblemSolving #TechSkills 🚀

🚀 Day 38 of my #100DaysOfCode Journey Today, I solved the LeetCode problem: Maximum Product of Two Elements in an Array. Problem Insight: Given an integer array, the goal is to find two elements such that: (nums[i] - 1) * (nums[j] - 1) is maximized Approach: • First, sort the array using Arrays.sort() • Use two nested loops to check all possible pairs • For each pair, calculate → (nums[i] - 1) * (nums[j] - 1) • Keep track of the maximum product Time Complexity: • O(n²) — due to nested loops Space Complexity: • O(1) — no extra space used Key Learnings: • Understanding operator precedence is very important in expressions • Sorting helps in simplifying many problems • Even simple problems can have optimized solutions beyond brute force Takeaway: Brute force helps in understanding the problem deeply, but optimization (like using the two largest elements directly) makes the solution efficient 🚀 #DSA #Java #LeetCode #100DaysOfCode #CodingJourney #ProblemSolving #Arrays

🚀 Day 45 of #100DaysOfCode 🧩 Problem Solved: Longest Common Prefix Today’s challenge was to find the common prefix among a list of strings. I used an efficient approach by leveraging sorting. 💡 Approach: Sort the array of strings Compare the first and last strings Build the prefix character by character 🧠 Why this works: After sorting, the first and last strings are the most different. Their common prefix will be the answer for all strings. ⚡ Key Learning: Smart thinking > brute force. Using sorting can reduce unnecessary comparisons and simplify logic. 🏷️ Tags: #100DaysOfCode #Day45 #LeetCode #Java #DSA #CodingJourney #ProblemSolving #Algorithms #String #Array 📈 Staying consistent and improving step by step! 🚀

Day 71/100 Completed ✅ 🚀 Solved LeetCode – Reshape the Matrix (Java) ⚡ Implemented an efficient matrix transformation approach by mapping elements from the original matrix to the reshaped matrix using a single traversal. Instead of creating intermediate structures, used index manipulation (count / c, count % c) to place elements correctly while maintaining row-wise order. 🧠 Key Learnings: • Understanding how to map 2D indices into a linear traversal • Efficiently converting between different matrix dimensions • Handling edge cases where reshape is not possible • Writing clean and optimized nested loop logic 💯 This problem strengthened my understanding of matrix traversal and index mapping techniques, which are very useful in array and grid-based problems. 🔗 Profile: https://lnkd.in/gaJmKdrA #leetcode #datastructures #algorithms #java #matrix #arrays #problemSolving #100DaysOfCode 🚀

🚀 Day 3/100 – LeetCode Challenge 🔍 Problem: Given a sorted array of distinct integers and a target value, return the index if the target is found. If not, return the index where it would be inserted to maintain the sorted order. 💡 Key Concepts Used: • Binary Search • Time Complexity Optimization – O(log n) • Efficient searching in sorted arrays 📚 What I Learned: • How binary search reduces search time significantly compared to linear search • Handling edge cases when the target element is not present • Determining the correct insertion index while maintaining sorted order hashtag #100DaysOfCode #LeetCode #Java #DataStructures #Algorithms #BinarySearch #CodingJourney #ProblemSolving