Relative Ranks - Solution & Explanation

The idea is to sort the scores but preserve their original indices by pairing each score with its index. Once sorted, we can easily determine their ranks by iterating over the sorted list. We then assign the corresponding rank values based on their positions (i.e., 'Gold Medal' for the first position, etc.). This approach utilizes additional space to maintain the original indices while sorting the scores.

The solution involves creating a pair structure (ScoreIndex) to hold both the score and its original index. We make use of qsort to sort the array in descending order based on scores. After sorting, the rank is assigned according to the sorted position, converting the top three into medal strings and others into strings of their positions. Finally, the ranks are filled into the result array based on original indices.

In this approach, we employ a hash map (or dictionary) to map each score to its ranking position in a sorted list. The scores are first sorted to determine order-based ranks. We then iterate through original scores, using the map to quickly assign the appropriate ranking (medal or numeric) to each score.

This C solution sorts a copy of the original list and uses the sorted positions to determine ranks. The qsort function provides a sorted view, and scores are ranked by finding their positions in this sorted list. Medals are assigned for the top three ranks using conditional checks.