LeetCode-in-All

1. Two Sum

Easy

Given an array of integers nums and an integer target, return indices of the two numbers such that they add up to target.

You may assume that each input would have exactly one solution, and you may not use the same element twice.

You can return the answer in any order.

Example 1:

Input: nums = [2,7,11,15], target = 9

Output: [0,1]

Explanation: Because nums[0] + nums[1] == 9, we return [0, 1].

Example 2:

Input: nums = [3,2,4], target = 6

Output: [1,2]

Example 3:

Input: nums = [3,3], target = 6

Output: [0,1]

Constraints:

Follow-up: Can you come up with an algorithm that is less than O(n2) time complexity?

Here are the steps to solve the Two Sum problem:

Approach:

  1. Create a Dictionary/HashMap:
    • Initialize an empty dictionary to store the elements of the array and their corresponding indices.
  2. Iterate through the Array:
    • Traverse through the given array nums using a loop.
  3. Check Complement:
    • For each element nums[i], calculate its complement (i.e., target - nums[i]).
  4. Check if Complement exists:
    • Check if the complement is already in the dictionary.
      • If it is, return the indices [dictionary[complement], i].
      • If not, add the current element and its index to the dictionary.

Python Code:

from typing import List

class Solution:
    def twoSum(self, nums: List[int], target: int) -> List[int]:
        # Create a dictionary to store elements and their indices
        num_dict = {}
        
        # Iterate through the array
        for i in range(len(nums)):
            # Check complement
            complement = target - nums[i]
            
            # Check if complement exists in the dictionary
            if complement in num_dict:
                # Return the indices if complement is found
                return [num_dict[complement], i]
            
            # Add the current element and its index to the dictionary
            num_dict[nums[i]] = i
        
        # If no solution is found
        return None

# Example Usage:
solution = Solution()

nums1 = [2, 7, 11, 15]
target1 = 9
print(solution.twoSum(nums1, target1))  # Output: [0, 1]

nums2 = [3, 2, 4]
target2 = 6
print(solution.twoSum(nums2, target2))  # Output: [1, 2]

nums3 = [3, 3]
target3 = 6
print(solution.twoSum(nums3, target3))  # Output: [0, 1]

Time Complexity:

The time complexity of this algorithm is O(n), where n is the number of elements in the array. The dictionary lookup operation is constant time.