1582 articles
Find the one non-duplicate element in O(log n) time by observing how pair indices shift after the singleton — a parity-based binary search that requires no XOR or extra space.
Find the length of the longest strictly increasing subsequence in O(n log n) using patience sorting — a binary search on a maintained tails array that is simpler and faster than classic DP.
LC 410 asks you to split an array into k non-empty subarrays to minimize the largest subarray sum. Binary search on the answer range [max(nums), sum(nums)] and greedily count splits to check feasibility. O(n log(sum - max)) total time.
Search a rotated sorted array that may contain duplicates in O(log n) average time by handling the ambiguous duplicate case with a safe lo++ shrink. Deep FAANG interview breakdown with visual dry runs and all edge cases.
Find the minimum number of days to make m bouquets of k adjacent flowers by binary searching on the day value and checking feasibility greedily. Full FAANG-level breakdown with visual dry run and all edge cases.