Leetcode 56. Merge Intervals

Given a collection of intervals, merge all overlapping intervals.

Example 1:

Input: [[1,3],[2,6],[8,10],[15,18]]
Output: [[1,6],[8,10],[15,18]]
Explanation: Since intervals [1,3] and [2,6] overlaps, merge them into [1,6].

Example 2:

Input: [[1,4],[4,5]]
Output: [[1,5]]
Explanation: Intervals [1,4] and [4,5] are considered overlapping.

tag：array，sort

method 1

将每个区间进行排序，按照start进行排序，start小的排在前面，遍历排序后的intervals，如果第n个interval的end < 第n+1个的interval的start，那么就将第n个interval当作一个新的interval加入结果中。如果第n个interval的end >= 第n+1个的interval的start，那么就进行合并，end取两个区间中最大那一个

class Solution {
    private class IntervalComparator implements Comparator<Interval> {
        @Override
        public int compare(Interval a, Interval b) {
            return a.start < b.start ? -1 : a.start == b.start ? 0 : 1;
        }
    }

    public List<Interval> merge(List<Interval> intervals) {
        Collections.sort(intervals, new IntervalComparator());

        LinkedList<Interval> merged = new LinkedList<Interval>();
        for (Interval interval : intervals) {
            // if the list of merged intervals is empty or if the current
            // interval does not overlap with the previous, simply append it.
            if (merged.isEmpty() || merged.getLast().end < interval.start) {
                merged.add(interval);
            }
            // otherwise, there is overlap, so we merge the current and previous
            // intervals.
            else {
                merged.getLast().end = Math.max(merged.getLast().end, interval.end);
            }
        }

        return merged;
    }
}

summary：

1. 排序后只要认真讨论情况，就能解决这个问题
2. 区间排序，考虑多条件（首/尾）