[LeetCode] Maximum Size Subarray Sum Equals k

Problem

Given an array nums and a target value k, find the maximum length of a subarray that sums to k. If there isn't one, return 0 instead.

Note

The sum of the entire nums array is guaranteed to fit within the 32-bit signed integer range.

Examples

Example 1:

Given nums = [1, -1, 5, -2, 3], k = 3,
return 4. (because the subarray [1, -1, 5, -2] sums to 3 and is the longest)

Example 2:

Given nums = [-2, -1, 2, 1], k = 1,
return 2. (because the subarray [-1, 2] sums to 1 and is the longest)

Follow Up:

Can you do it in O(n) time?

Solution

class Solution {
    public int maxSubArrayLen(int[] nums, int k) {
        Map<Integer, Integer> map = new HashMap<>();
        int max = 0, sum = 0;
        //this is the crucial step... if the subarray starts from index 0, 
        //we need to count an extra 1 as it is one less than the actual length
        map.put(0, -1); 
        for (int i = 0; i < nums.length; i++) {
            sum += nums[i];
            if (map.containsKey(sum-k)) {
                //sum-k means... the preSum satisfies: sum-preSum=k
                //so lets get 'i-preSum_index' and compare with existing max length
                max = Math.max(max, i-map.get(sum-k));
            }
            //if map already has current sum, we would definitely use the earlier index 
            //to get the larger length, right?
            if (!map.containsKey(sum)) map.put(sum, i);
        }
        return max;
    }
}