LeetCode //C - 398. Random Pick Index

398. Random Pick Index

Given an integer array nums with possible duplicates, randomly output the index of a given target number. You can assume that the given target number must exist in the array.

Implement the Solution class:

• Solution(int[] nums) Initializes the object with the array nums.
• int pick(int target) Picks a random index i from nums where nums[i] == target. If there are multiple valid i’s, then each index should have an equal probability of returning.
   

Example 1:

Input:
[“Solution”, “pick”, “pick”, “pick”]
[[[1, 2, 3, 3, 3]], [3], [1], [3]]
Output:
[null, 4, 0, 2]
Explanation:
Solution solution = new Solution([1, 2, 3, 3, 3]);
solution.pick(3); // It should return either index 2, 3, or 4 randomly. Each index should have equal probability of returning.
solution.pick(1); // It should return 0. Since in the array only nums[0] is equal to 1.
solution.pick(3); // It should return either index 2, 3, or 4 randomly. Each index should have equal probability of returning.

Constraints:

• $1<=nums.length<=2\ast 10^4$
• $-2^{31}<=nums[i]<=2^{31}-1$
• target is an integer from nums.
• At most $10^4$ calls will be made to pick.

From: LeetCode
Link: 398. Random Pick Index

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Solution:

Ideas:

1. Struct Definition:

• Solution struct holds:
  • nums: a pointer to the input array.
  • numsSize: the size of the array.

2. solutionCreate:

• This function initializes the Solution object with the given nums array and stores its size in numsSize.

3. solutionPick:

• We use reservoir sampling to randomly select an index of target:
  • We iterate through the nums array.
  • For each occurrence of target, we increment the count of valid indices.
  • Using the formula rand() % count == 0, we decide whether to select the current index as the result. This ensures that each index has an equal probability of being selected.

4. solutionFree:

• This function frees the dynamically allocated memory for the Solution object.

Code:

typedef struct {
    int* nums;    // Array to store the nums
    int numsSize; // Size of the array
} Solution;

Solution* solutionCreate(int* nums, int numsSize) {
    Solution* obj = (Solution*)malloc(sizeof(Solution));
    obj->nums = nums;
    obj->numsSize = numsSize;
    return obj;
}

int solutionPick(Solution* obj, int target) {
    int count = 0;  // To count the number of occurrences of target
    int result = -1; // Store the result index

    // Iterate over the nums array
    for (int i = 0; i < obj->numsSize; i++) {
        if (obj->nums[i] == target) {
            count++;
            // Reservoir sampling: replace result with probability 1/count
            if (rand() % count == 0) {
                result = i;
            }
        }
    }

    return result;
}

void solutionFree(Solution* obj) {
    // No need to free the nums array because it is passed in externally
    free(obj);
}

/**
 * Your Solution struct will be instantiated and called as such:
 * Solution* obj = solutionCreate(nums, numsSize);
 * int param_1 = solutionPick(obj, target);
 * solutionFree(obj);
 */