Rotate Array

Problem

Given an integer array nums, rotate the array to the right by k steps, where k is non-negative.

Example 1:

Input: nums = [1,2,3,4,5,6,7], k = 3
Output: [5,6,7,1,2,3,4]
Explanation:
rotate 1 steps to the right: [7,1,2,3,4,5,6]
rotate 2 steps to the right: [6,7,1,2,3,4,5]
rotate 3 steps to the right: [5,6,7,1,2,3,4]

Example 2:

Input: nums = [-1,-100,3,99], k = 2
Output: [3,99,-1,-100]
Explanation:
rotate 1 steps to the right: [99,-1,-100,3]
rotate 2 steps to the right: [3,99,-1,-100]

Constraints:

  • 1 <= nums.length <= 10^5
  • -2^31 <= nums[i] <= 2^31 - 1
  • 0 <= k <= 10^5

Follow up:

  • Try to come up with as many solutions as you can. There are at least three different ways to solve this problem.
  • Could you do it in-place with O(1) extra space?

Solution

This can be done with O(1) space using some rotation tricks. I suspect there is also a way to do this mathematically, but the algorithm was getting a little complicated.

class Solution {
    // this solution uses o(n) storage.
    public void rotate(int[] nums, int k) {
        // simplifies overflows
        k = k % nums.length;
        int[] copy = new int[nums.length];
        for (int i = 0; i < nums.length; i++) {
            copy[i] = nums[i];
        }
        for (int i = 0; i < nums.length; i++) {
            // determine the write target
            var target = (i + k) % nums.length;
            nums[target] = copy[i];
        }
    }
}

Using reverse

class Solution {
    public void rotate(int[] nums, int k) {
        k = k % nums.length;
        reverse(nums, 0, nums.length - 1);
        reverse(nums, k, nums.length - 1);
        reverse(nums, 0, k - 1);
    }

    public void reverse(int[] nums, int start, int end) {
        while (start < end) {
            var tmp = nums[start];
            nums[start] = nums[end];
            nums[end] = tmp;
            start += 1;
            end -= 1;
        }
    }
}

Recent posts from blogs that I like

The Dutch Golden Age: Aelbert Cuyp 1

Trained as a landscape painter, he used his landscapes for genre scenes, animal and human portraits, even myths and a religious work, and was influenced by Claude Lorrain.

via The Eclectic Light Company

Highlights from my appearance on the Data Renegades podcast with CL Kao and Dori Wilson

via Simon Willison

Notes on the WASM Basic C ABI

The WebAssembly/tool-conventions repository contains "Conventions supporting interoperability between tools working with WebAssembly". Of special interest, in contains the Basic C ABI - an ABI for representing C programs in WASM. This ABI is followed by compilers like Clang with the wasm32 target. R...

via Eli Bendersky