LeetCode OJ Merge Intervals

Given a collection of intervals, merge all overlapping intervals.

For example,
Given [1,3],[2,6],[8,10],[15,18],
return [1,6],[8,10],[15,18].

Great problem from which i learn a lot.

My previous answer is always TLE, finally i got the mistake from a coder online.

This is my previous answer:

bool cmp(Interval a, Interval b) {
    if (a.start != b.start) return a.start < b.start;
    else return a.end < b.end;
}

class Solution {
public:
    vector<Interval> merge(vector<Interval> &intervals) {
        if (intervals.size() < 2) return intervals;
        
        sort(intervals.begin(), intervals.end(), cmp);
        
        vector<Interval>::iterator iter;
        iter = intervals.begin();
        for (int i = 0; i < intervals.size() - 1; ) {
            if (intervals[i + 1].start <= intervals[i].end) {
                intervals[i + 1].start = intervals[i].start;
                if (intervals[i + 1].end < intervals[i].end) intervals[i + 1].end = intervals[i].end;
                intervals.erase(iter);
            } else {
                i++;
                iter++;
            }
        }
        return intervals;
    }
};

Notice that erase function is so slow...

So I change my mind to use a new vector to store the answer and finally intervals = answer.

And it is accepted.

bool cmp(Interval a, Interval b) {
    if (a.start != b.start) return a.start < b.start;
    else return a.end < b.end;
}

class Solution {
public:
    vector<Interval> merge(vector<Interval> &intervals) {
        if (intervals.size() < 2) return intervals;
        
        sort(intervals.begin(), intervals.end(), cmp);
        intervals.push_back(Interval(99999999, 99999999 + 1));
        vector<Interval> ans;
        for (int i = 0; i < intervals.size() - 1; i++) {
            if (intervals[i + 1].start <= intervals[i].end) {
                intervals[i + 1].start = intervals[i].start;
                if (intervals[i + 1].end < intervals[i].end) intervals[i + 1].end = intervals[i].end;
            } else {
                ans.push_back(intervals[i]);
            }
        }
        intervals = ans;
        return intervals;
    }
};