Two Pointers

11. Container With Most Water

Given n non-negative integers a1, a2, ..., an, where each represents a point at coordinate (i, ai). n vertical lines are drawn such that the two endpoints of line i is at (i, ai) and (i, 0). Find two lines, which together with x-axis forms a container, such that the container contains the most water.

Note: You may not slant the container.

题意是寻找两块板之间所能容纳的最大水量，用双指针分别从首尾两端遍历，每次移动较短边对应指针，直到较短边变成较长边，并计算此时所能容纳水量，若大于maxarea，则更新maxarea，直到两指针相遇为止。

class Solution {
public:
    int maxArea(vector<int>& height) {
        int maxarea=0,area=0;
        int left=0,right=height.size()-1;
        while(left<right){
            area=(right-left)*(height[left]>height[right]?height[right]:height[left]);
            maxarea=maxarea>area?maxarea:area;
            if(height[left]<height[right]){
                do{
                    left++;
                }while(left<right && height[left]<height[left-1]);
            }else{
                do{
                    right--;
                }while(left<right && height[right]<height[right+1]);
            }
        }
        return maxarea;
    }
};

15. 3Sum

Given an array S of n integers, are there elements a, b, c in S such that a + b + c = 0? Find all unique triplets in the array which gives the sum of zero.

寻找数组中和为0的三个数，注意不能包含重复解。思路是先对数字排序，然后用一层循环遍历一个数字a，用双指针分别指向数组首尾，赋值给b和c，当三个数之和小于0时，low++，当三个数只和大于0时，high--，等于0则加入解集。排序时间复杂度O(nlogn)，遍历复杂度O(n^2)，总的时间复杂度为O(n^2)。

class Solution {
public:
    vector<vector<int>> threeSum(vector<int>& nums) {
        vector<vector<int>> result;
        sort(nums.begin(),nums.end());
        int n=nums.size();
        for(int i=0;i<n-2;i++){
            if(i>0 && nums[i-1]==nums[i]) continue;
            int a=nums[i];
            int low=i+1;
            int high=n-1;
            while(low<high){
                int b=nums[low];
                int c=nums[high];
                if(a+b+c==0){
                    vector<int> v;
                    v.push_back(a);
                    v.push_back(b);
                    v.push_back(c);
                    result.push_back(v);
                    while(low<n-1 && nums[low]==nums[low+1]) low++;
                    while(high>0 && nums[high]==nums[high-1]) high--;
                    low++;
                    high--;
                }else if(a+b+c>0){
                    while(high>0 && nums[high]==nums[high-1]) high--;
                    high--;
                }else{
                    while(low<n && nums[low]==nums[low+1]) low++;
                    low++;
                }
            }
        }
        return result;
    }
};

16. 3Sum Closest

Given an array S of n integers, find three integers in S such that the sum is closest to a given number, target. Return the sum of the three integers. You may assume that each input would have exactly one solution.

    For example, given array S = {-1 2 1 -4}, and target = 1.

    The sum that is closest to the target is 2. (-1 + 2 + 1 = 2).

寻找数组内求和最接近目标值的三个数。思路与3Sum类似，加入distance变量用于记录当前与目标值的最小差。

class Solution {
public:
    int threeSumClosest(vector<int>& nums, int target) {
        sort(nums.begin(),nums.end());
        int size=nums.size();
        int distance=INT_MAX;
        int result=distance;
        for(int i=0;i<size-2;i++){
            if(i>0 && nums[i-1]==nums[i]) continue;
            int low=i+1;
            int high=size-1;
            while(low<high){
                int sum=nums[i]+nums[low]+nums[high];
                if(sum==target) return target;
                else{
                    if(abs(sum-target)<distance){
                        distance=abs(sum-target);
                        result=sum;
                    }
                    if(sum-target<0){
                        while(low<size && nums[low]==nums[low+1]) low++;
                        low++;
                    }else{
                        while(high>i && nums[high]==nums[high-1]) high--;
                        high--;
                    }
                }
            }    
        }
        return result;
    }
};

18. 4Sum

Given an array S of n integers, are there elements a, b, c, and d in S such that a + b + c + d = target? Find all unique quadruplets in the array which gives the sum of target.
寻找数组中和为0的四个数。思路同3Sum，多一层循环遍历。

class Solution {
public:
    vector<vector<int>> fourSum(vector<int>& nums, int target) {
        vector<vector<int>> result;
        if(nums.size()<4) return result;
        sort(nums.begin(),nums.end());
        for(int i=0;i<nums.size()-3;i++){
            if(i>0 && nums[i-1]==nums[i]) continue;
            vector<int> n(nums.begin()+i+1,nums.end());
            vector<vector<int>> ret=threeSum(n,target-nums[i]);
            for(int j=0;j<ret.size();j++){
                ret[j].insert(ret[j].begin(),nums[i]);
                result.push_back(ret[j]);
            }
        }
        return result;
    }
    
    vector<vector<int>> threeSum(vector<int> num,int target){
        vector<vector<int>> result;
        int n=num.size();
        for(int i=0;i<n-2;i++){
            if(i>0 && num[i-1]==num[i]) continue;
            int low=i+1;
            int high=n-1;
            
            while(low<high){
                int sum=num[i]+num[low]+num[high];
                if(sum==target){
                    vector<int> v;
                    v.push_back(num[i]);
                    v.push_back(num[low]);
                    v.push_back(num[high]);
                    result.push_back(v);
                    while(low<n && num[low]==num[low+1]) low++;
                    while(high>i && num[high]==num[high-1]) high--;
                    low++;high--;
                }else if(sum>target){
                    while(high>0 && num[high]==num[high-1]) high--;
                    high--;   
                }else{
                    while(low<n && num[low]==num[low+1]) low++;
                    low++;
                }
            }
        }
        return result;
    }
};

42. Trapping Rain Water

Given n non-negative integers representing an elevation map where the width of each bar is 1, compute how much water it is able to trap after raining.

For example, 
Given [0,1,0,2,1,0,1,3,2,1,2,1], return 6.

用n个非负整数代表木条高度，计算所有木条所能容纳的最大水量。思路是先找到最高的木条，然后用双指针分别从两端遍历，从左边遍历时，用pre存储从左边起到目前为止最高木条，如果当前木条比pre低，则在result中加入pre与当前木条之差的水量，如果当前木条比pre高，则把pre更新为当前木条高度，直到遍历到最高木条时为止。从右边遍历时也是一样的。

class Solution {
public:
    int trap(vector<int>& height) {
        int result=0;
        int maxHigh=0;
        int maxId=0;
        for(int i=0;i<height.size();i++){
            if(height[i]>maxHigh){
                maxHigh=height[i];
                maxId=i;
            }
        }
        int pre=0;
        for(int i=0;i<maxId;i++){
            if(height[i]>pre){
                pre=height[i];
            }
            result+=(pre-height[i]);
        }
        pre=0;
        for(int i=height.size()-1;i>maxId;i--){
            if(height[i]>pre){
                pre=height[i];
            }
            result+=(pre-height[i]);
        }
        return result;
    }
};