Leetcode 128. Longest Consecutive Sequence

A hashset to save all unique numbers in the array.

left indicates the number that is 1 less than target, right indicate the number that is 1 greater than target, here, target is nums[i]

keep decreasing (increasing) left (right) when left (right) exists in the set, at the same time, remove left (right) from the set.

record that largest length.

public class Solution {
    public int longestConsecutive(int[] nums) {
        HashSet<Integer> set = new HashSet<>();
        for (int num : nums) {
            set.add(num);
        }
        
        int len = 0;
        for (int i=0; i<nums.length; i++) {
            int left = nums[i]-1;
            while (set.contains(left)) {
                set.remove(left);
                left--;
            }
            
            int right = nums[i]+1;
            while (set.contains(right)) {
                set.remove(right);
                right++;
            }
            
            len = Math.max(len, right-left-1);
        }
        
        return len;
    }
}