Is Split With Minimum Sum easy or hard?

Split With Minimum Sum is classified as an Easy problem. The main challenge is recognizing the greedy insight that distributing sorted digits between two numbers minimizes their total sum.

Split With Minimum Sum Python/Java solution

The Python or Java implementation extracts digits using modulo and division, sorts them, and alternately appends digits to two numbers using multiplication by 10. The same greedy logic works across C, C++, Java, Python, C#, and JavaScript.

How to solve Split With Minimum Sum in O(n)?

An O(n) approach is possible using counting sort because digits range from 0 to 9. Count the frequency of each digit, then distribute digits alternately between two numbers while iterating from smallest to largest digit. This avoids comparison sorting and keeps the complexity linear.

What is the best approach for Split With Minimum Sum?

The greedy sorting approach is the best solution. Extract the digits, sort them in ascending order, and build two numbers by alternately assigning digits. This keeps both numbers balanced and ensures the smallest digits occupy the highest place values. The overall complexity is O(n log n) due to sorting.

Is Split With Minimum Sum asked at Google/Amazon/Meta?

Problems based on digit manipulation, greedy distribution, and sorting frequently appear in interviews at companies like Amazon, Google, and Meta. While this exact question may vary, the underlying greedy reasoning and digit-processing pattern are common interview topics.

What data structure is used in Split With Minimum Sum?

The solution primarily uses a simple array or list to store extracted digits. After sorting the digits, two integer variables are built using arithmetic operations. No advanced data structures are required.

What is the time complexity of Split With Minimum Sum?

The optimal greedy solution runs in O(n log n) time because the digits must be sorted first. Constructing the two numbers afterward is a linear O(n) pass. Space complexity is O(1) excluding the temporary list of digits.

Description Hints 2 Solution Video 6:42

2578. Split With Minimum Sum

Easy74.0% acceptance2 companies

Given a positive integer num, split it into two non-negative integers num1 and num2 such that:

The concatenation of num1 and num2 is a permutation of num.
- In other words, the sum of the number of occurrences of each digit in num1 and num2 is equal to the number of occurrences of that digit in num.
num1 and num2 can contain leading zeros.

Return the minimum possible sum of num1 and num2.

Notes:

It is guaranteed that num does not contain any leading zeros.
The order of occurrence of the digits in num1 and num2 may differ from the order of occurrence of num.

Example 1:

Input: num = 4325
Output: 59
Explanation: We can split 4325 so that num1 is 24 and num2 is 35, giving a sum of 59. We can prove that 59 is indeed the minimal possible sum.

Example 2:

Input: num = 687
Output: 75
Explanation: We can split 687 so that num1 is 68 and num2 is 7, which would give an optimal sum of 75.

Constraints:

10 <= num <= 10⁹

Asked at 2 companies

Amazon

Google

Topics

Hints open one at a time

Hint 1

Sort the digits of num in non decreasing order.

Hint 2

Assign digits to num1 and num2 alternatively.

6:42

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