Problem: Last Stone Weight
Explore how to solve the Last Stone Weight problem by implementing a max heap using Java's PriorityQueue with a reverse order comparator. Understand how to repeatedly smash the two heaviest stones and manage heap operations effectively, gaining insights into heap-based problem-solving and algorithmic efficiency.
We'll cover the following...
Statement
You are given an integer array stones, where each element stones[i] represents the weight of the
A game is played with these stones. In each turn, the two heaviest stones are selected and smashed together. Let the weights of these two stones be x and y, where x y. The outcome of the smash is as follows:
If
xy, both stones are completely destroyed.If
xy, the stone of weightxis destroyed, and the stone of weightyis reduced to a new weight ofy...