Leetcode136. Single Number

Description

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

Example 1:

Input: [2,2,1]
Output: 1

Example 2:

Input: [4,1,2,1,2]
Output: 4

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Solution: Bit Manipulation

我们可以把0对每个元素都XOR，这样所有出现两次的元素都会抵消，从而最后的结果就是唯一的那一个元素。

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Proof：

XOR Property:

• a ^ 0 = a
• a ^ a = 0
• a ^ b = b ^ a
• (a ^ b) ^ c = a ^ (b ^ c)

交换位置，重复的元素一定可以被消除，而剩下的就是0 ^ 0 ^ 0 ^ 0 ^ ^… ^ single, 这样结果就是答案

//C++
//Time: O(n)
//Space: O(1)
int singleNumber(vector<int>& nums) {
        int ans = 0;
        for(int i = 0; i < nums.size(); ++i){
        	//XOR
            ans ^= nums[i];
        }
        return ans;
}