leetcode 719. Find K-th Smallest Pair Distance

Given an integer array, return the k-th smallest distance among all the pairs. The distance of a pair (A, B) is defined as the absolute difference between A and B.

Example 1:

Input:
nums = [1,3,1]
k = 1
Output: 0 
Explanation:
Here are all the pairs:
(1,3) -> 2
(1,1) -> 0
(3,1) -> 2
Then the 1st smallest distance pair is (1,1), and its distance is 0.

 

Note:

1. 2 <= len(nums) <= 10000.
2. 0 <= nums[i] < 1000000.
3. 1 <= k <= len(nums) * (len(nums) - 1) / 2.

 

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参考了讨论区的做法，二分查找+双指针。https://leetcode.com/problems/find-k-th-smallest-pair-distance/discuss/109082/Approach-the-problem-using-the-%22trial-and-error%22-algorithm

取一个差值m，计算小于等于这个差值的整数对，二分查找逼近真正的差值。

边界情况：l：在差值l下，满足条件的整数对总数刚好大于等于k。取l值的时候是一个跃变，l这个差值是真实存在的。所以返回l。

    public int smallestDistancePair(int[] nums, int k) {
        Arrays.sort(nums);
        int l=0;
        int r=nums[nums.length-1]-nums[0];
        while(l<r){
            int m=(l+r)/2;
            int count=0;
            for(int i=0,j=1;i<nums.length;i++){
                while(j<nums.length&&nums[i]+m>=nums[j]) j++;
                count+=j-i-1;
            }
            if(count<k){//满足条件的差值总数小于k
                l=m+1;
            }else{//满足条件的差值总数大于等于k
                r=m;
            }
        }
        return l;
    }

总结：看到这种求第k个数的类型，可以尝试二分查找不断逼近答案。