Problem: Find K Pairs with Smallest Sums

med

30 min

Explore how to efficiently find the k pairs with the smallest sums from two sorted arrays by applying the k-way merge strategy. This lesson teaches you to assess problem statements and implement optimized solutions suitable for coding interviews.

Statement

You are given two integer arrays, list1 and list2, sorted in non-decreasing order, and an integer, k.

A pair $(u, \space v)$ is defined as one element $u$ chosen from list1 and one element $v$ chosen from list2.

Your task is to return the k pairs $(u1, \space v1), (u2, \space v2), ..., (uk, \space vk)$ whose sums $u1 + v1, u2 + v2, ..., uk + vk$ are the smallest among all possible such pairs.

Note: If multiple pairs have the same sum, any order among them is acceptable.

Problem: Find K Pairs with Smallest Sums

med

30 min

Statement

You are given two integer arrays, list1 and list2, sorted in non-decreasing order, and an integer, k.

A pair $(u, \space v)$ is defined as one element $u$ chosen from list1 and one element $v$ chosen from list2.

Your task is to return the k pairs $(u1, \space v1), (u2, \space v2), ..., (uk, \space vk)$ whose sums $u1 + v1, u2 + v2, ..., uk + vk$ are the smallest among all possible such pairs.

Note: If multiple pairs have the same sum, any order among them is acceptable.

Problem: Find K Pairs with Smallest Sums

Statement

Examples

Understand the problem

Figure it out!

Try it yourself

Problem: Find K Pairs with Smallest Sums

Statement

Examples

Understand the problem

Figure it out!

Try it yourself