Watch 10 video solutions for The k Strongest Values in an Array, a medium level problem involving Array, Two Pointers, Sorting. This walkthrough by NeetCode has 665,789 views views. Want to try solving it yourself? Practice on FleetCode or read the detailed text solution.
Given an array of integers arr and an integer k.
A value arr[i] is said to be stronger than a value arr[j] if |arr[i] - m| > |arr[j] - m| where m is the median of the array.
If |arr[i] - m| == |arr[j] - m|, then arr[i] is said to be stronger than arr[j] if arr[i] > arr[j].
Return a list of the strongest k values in the array. return the answer in any arbitrary order.
Median is the middle value in an ordered integer list. More formally, if the length of the list is n, the median is the element in position ((n - 1) / 2) in the sorted list (0-indexed).
arr = [6, -3, 7, 2, 11], n = 5 and the median is obtained by sorting the array arr = [-3, 2, 6, 7, 11] and the median is arr[m] where m = ((5 - 1) / 2) = 2. The median is 6.arr = [-7, 22, 17, 3], n = 4 and the median is obtained by sorting the array arr = [-7, 3, 17, 22] and the median is arr[m] where m = ((4 - 1) / 2) = 1. The median is 3.
Example 1:
Input: arr = [1,2,3,4,5], k = 2 Output: [5,1] Explanation: Median is 3, the elements of the array sorted by the strongest are [5,1,4,2,3]. The strongest 2 elements are [5, 1]. [1, 5] is also accepted answer. Please note that although |5 - 3| == |1 - 3| but 5 is stronger than 1 because 5 > 1.
Example 2:
Input: arr = [1,1,3,5,5], k = 2 Output: [5,5] Explanation: Median is 3, the elements of the array sorted by the strongest are [5,5,1,1,3]. The strongest 2 elements are [5, 5].
Example 3:
Input: arr = [6,7,11,7,6,8], k = 5 Output: [11,8,6,6,7] Explanation: Median is 7, the elements of the array sorted by the strongest are [11,8,6,6,7,7]. Any permutation of [11,8,6,6,7] is accepted.
Constraints:
1 <= arr.length <= 105-105 <= arr[i] <= 1051 <= k <= arr.length