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Solving Leetcode Interviews in Seconds with AI: Minimum Average of Smallest and Largest Elements

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2 min read

Introduction

In this blog post, we will explore how to solve the LeetCode problem "3194" 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

You have an array of floating point numbers averages which is initially empty. You are given an array nums of n integers where n is even. You repeat the following procedure n / 2 times: Remove the smallest element, minElement, and the largest element maxElement, from nums. Add (minElement + maxElement) / 2 to averages. Return the minimum element in averages. Example 1: Input: nums = [7,8,3,4,15,13,4,1] Output: 5.5 Explanation: step nums averages 0 [7,8,3,4,15,13,4,1] [] 1 [7,8,3,4,13,4] [8] 2 [7,8,4,4] [8,8] 3 [7,4] [8,8,6] 4 [] [8,8,6,5.5] The smallest element of averages, 5.5, is returned. Example 2: Input: nums = [1,9,8,3,10,5] Output: 5.5 Explanation: step nums averages 0 [1,9,8,3,10,5] [] 1 [9,8,3,5] [5.5] 2 [8,5] [5.5,6] 3 [] [5.5,6,6.5] Example 3: Input: nums = [1,2,3,7,8,9] Output: 5.0 Explanation: step nums averages 0 [1,2,3,7,8,9] [] 1 [2,3,7,8] [5] 2 [3,7] [5,5] 3 [] [5,5,5] Constraints: 2 <= n == nums.length <= 50 n is even. 1 <= nums[i] <= 50

Explanation

Here's the solution to the problem, explained and implemented:

  • High-Level Approach:

    • Sort the input array nums. This allows easy access to the minimum and maximum elements in each iteration.
    • Iterate n / 2 times, calculating the average of the current minimum and maximum elements, and storing them.
    • Find and return the minimum element in the averages list.
  • Complexity:

    • Runtime: O(n log n) due to the initial sorting step. The rest of the operations take O(n).
    • Storage: O(n) for the averages list.

Code

    def min_average_pair(nums):
    """
    Calculates the minimum average of pairs formed by repeatedly removing the smallest and largest elements from nums.

    Args:
        nums: A list of integers.

    Returns:
        The minimum average value.
    """
    nums.sort()
    averages = []
    n = len(nums)
    for i in range(n // 2):
        averages.append((nums[i] + nums[n - 1 - i]) / 2)
    return min(averages)

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