Introduction to Top K Elements
Explore the top k elements pattern to efficiently identify the largest or smallest k elements in a dataset. Understand how using min heaps or max heaps reduces sorting time and enables fast extraction of these elements. Learn when to apply this pattern and see real-world examples like ride-sharing apps and financial market analysis.
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About the pattern
The top k elements pattern is an important technique in coding that helps us efficiently find a specific number of elements, known as , from a set of data. This is particularly useful when we’re tasked with identifying the largest, smallest, or most/least frequent elements within an unsorted collection.
To solve tasks like these, one might think to sort the entire collection first, which takes time, and then select the top k elements, taking additional ...