LeetCode - Single Number II

Given an array of integers, every element appears three times except for one. Find that single one.
Note:
Your algorithm should have a linear runtime complexity. Could you implement it without using extra memory?

http://oj.leetcode.com/problems/single-number-ii/

Solution:

Bit operation, use a bit array to count the number of every bit of all the numbers. O(n) time and O(1) space

https://github.com/starcroce/leetcode/blob/master/single_number_II.cpp

// 60 ms for 11 test cases
class Solution {
public:
    int singleNumber(int A[], int n) {
        // this question seems to be every other elements appear three times and one appears ONE time
        int bits[32];
        int res = 0;
        for(int i = 0; i < 32; i++) {
            bits[i] = 0;
            for(int j = 0; j < n; j++) {
                // count the number of bits of each number
                // if that bit is 1, bit count++
                if((A[j]>>i) & 1) {
                    bits[i] = (bits[i]+1) % 3;
                }
            }
            // only the bit of the single number would be 1, others are 0
            res |= bits[i]<<i;
        }
        return res;
    }
};