Introduction

In this blog post, we will explore how to solve the LeetCode problem "155" using AI. LeetCode is a popular platform for preparing for coding interviews, and with the help of AI tools like Chatmagic, we can generate solutions quickly and efficiently - helping you pass the interviews and get the job offer without having to study for months.

Problem Statement

Design a stack that supports push, pop, top, and retrieving the minimum element in constant time. Implement the MinStack class: MinStack() initializes the stack object. void push(int val) pushes the element val onto the stack. void pop() removes the element on the top of the stack. int top() gets the top element of the stack. int getMin() retrieves the minimum element in the stack. You must implement a solution with O(1) time complexity for each function. Example 1: Input ["MinStack","push","push","push","getMin","pop","top","getMin"] [[],[-2],[0],[-3],[],[],[],[]] Output [null,null,null,null,-3,null,0,-2] Explanation MinStack minStack = new MinStack(); minStack.push(-2); minStack.push(0); minStack.push(-3); minStack.getMin(); // return -3 minStack.pop(); minStack.top(); // return 0 minStack.getMin(); // return -2 Constraints: -231 <= val <= 231 - 1 Methods pop, top and getMin operations will always be called on non-empty stacks. At most 3 * 104 calls will be made to push, pop, top, and getMin.

Explanation

• Maintain an Auxiliary Stack: Alongside the main stack, we maintain a second stack that stores the minimum element encountered so far.
  • Synchronized Operations: When pushing, we compare the new element with the current minimum. If the new element is smaller or equal, we also push it onto the minimum stack. When popping, we check if the popped element is equal to the current minimum. If it is, we also pop from the minimum stack.

• Time & Space Complexity: O(1) for all operations (push, pop, top, getMin), O(n) space complexity, where n is the number of elements pushed onto the stack.

Code

    class MinStack:

    def __init__(self):
        self.stack = []
        self.min_stack = []

    def push(self, val: int) -> None:
        self.stack.append(val)
        if not self.min_stack or val <= self.min_stack[-1]:
            self.min_stack.append(val)

    def pop(self) -> None:
        if self.stack[-1] == self.min_stack[-1]:
            self.min_stack.pop()
        self.stack.pop()

    def top(self) -> int:
        return self.stack[-1]

    def getMin(self) -> int:
        return self.min_stack[-1]