136. Single Number

Given an 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?

官方解答如下：

Solution

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Approach #1 List operation [Time Limit Exceeded]

Algorithm

1. Iterate over all the elements in $\text{nums}$
2. If some number in $\text{nums}$ is new to array, append it
3. If some number is already in the array, remove it

Python

class Solution(object):
    def singleNumber(self, nums):
        """
        :type nums: List[int]
        :rtype: int
        """
        no_duplicate_list = []
        for i in nums:
            if i not in no_duplicate_list:
                no_duplicate_list.append(i)
            else:
                no_duplicate_list.remove(i)
        return no_duplicate_list.pop()

Complexity Analysis

• Time complexity : O(n2)O(n^2)O(n​2​​). We iterate through $\text{nums}$, taking $O(n)$ time. We search the whole list to find whether there is duplicate number, taking$O(n)$ time. Because search is in the for loop, so we have to multiply both time complexities which isO(n2)O(n^2)O(n​2​​).

• Space complexity : $O(n)$. We need a list of size $n$ to contain elements in $\text{nums}$.

---

Approach #2 Hash Table [Accepted]

Algorithm

We use hash table to avoid the $O(n)$ time required for searching the elements.

1. Iterate through all elements in $\text{nums}$
2. Try if $hash\_table$ has the key for pop
3. If not, set up key/value pair
4. In the end, there is only one element in $hash\_table$, so use popitem to get it

Python

class Solution(object):
    def singleNumber(self, nums):
        """
        :type nums: List[int]
        :rtype: int
        """
        hash_table = {}
        for i in nums:
            try:
                hash_table.pop(i)
            except:
                hash_table[i] = 1
        return hash_table.popitem()[0]

Complexity Analysis

• Time complexity : $O(n\ast 1)=O(n)$. Time complexity of for loop is $O(n)$. Time complexity of hash table(dictionary in python) operation pop is$O(1)$.

• Space complexity : $O(n)$. The space required by $hash\_table$ is equal to the number of elements in $\text{nums}$.

---

Approach #3 Math [Accepted]

Concept

$2\ast (a+b+c)-(a+a+b+b+c)=c$

Python

class Solution(object):
    def singleNumber(self, nums):
        """
        :type nums: List[int]
        :rtype: int
        """
        return 2 * sum(set(nums)) - sum(nums)

Complexity Analysis

• Time complexity : $O(n+n)=O(n)$.sum will call next to iterate through $\text{nums}$.We can see it as sum(list(i, for i in nums)) which means the time complexity is$O(n)$ because of the number of elements($n$) in $\text{nums}$.

• Space complexity : $O(n+n)=O(n)$.set needs space for the elements in nums

---

Approach #4 Bit Manipulation [Accepted]

Concept

• If we take XOR of zero and some bit, it will return that bit
  • $a\oplus 0=a$
• If we take XOR of two same bits, it will return 0
  • $a\oplus a=0$
• $a\oplus b\oplus a=(a\oplus a)\oplus b=0\oplus b=b$

So we can XOR all bits together to find the unique number.

Python

class Solution(object):
    def singleNumber(self, nums):
        """
        :type nums: List[int]
        :rtype: int
        """
        a = 0
        for i in nums:
            a ^= i
        return a

Complexity Analysis

• Time complexity : $O(n)$. We only iterate through $\text{nums}$, so the time complexity is the number of elements in $\text{nums}$.

• Space complexity : $O(1)$.

---

Analysis written by: @Ambition_Wang

java实现的版本如下：

import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.HashSet;

public class SingleNumber {
    //set version
    public int singleNumber_set(int[] nums) {
        HashSet<Integer> hashSet=new HashSet<>();
        int sum=0;
        for(int i=0;i<nums.length;i++)
        {
            hashSet.add(nums[i]);
            sum+=nums[i];
        }
        int sum1=0;
        for(int num:hashSet)
        {
            sum1+=num;
        }
        return 2*sum1-sum;
    }
    //hashmap version
    public int singleNumber_hashmap(int[] nums) {
        HashMap<Integer, Integer> hashMap=new HashMap<Integer,Integer>();
        for(int i=0;i<nums.length;i++)
        {
            if(hashMap.containsKey(nums[i]))
            {
                hashMap.remove(nums[i]);
            }
            else
            {
                hashMap.put(nums[i], 0);
            }
        }
        for(Integer key:hashMap.keySet())
        {
            return key;
        }
        return -1;
    }
    //bit manipulation version
    public int singleNumber(int[] nums) {
        int answer=nums[0];
        for(int i=1;i<nums.length;i++)
        {
            answer^=nums[i];
        }
        return answer;
        
    }
}

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