How do you solve Find the Integer Added to Array I on LeetCode?

Find the Integer Added to Array I (LeetCode #3131) can be solved using Brute Force or Optimal Solution. The optimal approach is Optimal Solution with O(n) time complexity and O(1) space complexity. Key insight: The difference between the minimum values of the two arrays directly gives the integer x.

What is the brute force solution for Find the Integer Added to Array I?

The brute force approach for Find the Integer Added to Array I is Brute Force, with O(n²) time complexity and O(1) space complexity. The brute force approach involves checking every possible integer x that could be added to nums1 to see if it matches nums2. This is straightforward but inefficient. The optimal Optimal Solution approach improves this to O(n).

What algorithm or data structure is used to solve Find the Integer Added to Array I?

Find the Integer Added to Array I uses the following concepts: Array. The recommended patterns to study are: Hash Map, Array.

What are the interview tips for Find the Integer Added to Array I?

Always consider edge cases, such as when both arrays are identical. Think about how you can simplify the problem before diving into complex solutions. Practice explaining your thought process clearly, as communication is key in interviews.

What are common mistakes when solving Find the Integer Added to Array I?

Students may forget to check the sorted equality of arrays in the brute force approach, leading to incorrect results. Some might try to use nested loops unnecessarily, thinking they need to compare all elements.

#3131

Find the Integer Added to Array I

Easy

ArrayHash MapArray

LeetCode ↗

Approaches

Brute ForceOptimal

Complexity Comparison

	Brute Force	Optimal Solution★
Time	O(n²)	O(n)
Space	O(1)	O(1)

💡

Intuition

Time O(n)Space O(1)

The optimal solution leverages the relationship between the minimum values of the two arrays. By finding the difference between the minimum values, we can directly compute x.

⚙️

Algorithm

3 steps

1Step 1: Find the minimum value of nums1 and nums2.
2Step 2: Calculate x as the difference between the minimum of nums2 and the minimum of nums1.
3Step 3: Return x.

solution.py5 lines

1# Full working Python code
2
3def find_added_integer(nums1, nums2):
4    return min(nums2) - min(nums1)
5

ℹ

Complexity note: The time complexity is O(n) because we only need to traverse each array once to find the minimum values. The space complexity is O(1) since we are using a constant amount of extra space.

1The difference between the minimum values of the two arrays directly gives the integer x.
2Sorting both arrays is unnecessary for finding x, as we only need the minimum values.

Solutions and explanations are original Tejav content. Problem titles © LeetCode — use the LeetCode button above for the full problem statement.