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Kth Largest Element in a Stream⚓︎

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Description⚓︎

Design a class to find the k-th largest element in a stream. Note that it is the k-th largest element in the sorted order, not the k-th distinct element.

Implement KthLargest class:

  • KthLargest(int k, int[] nums) Initializes the object with the integer k and the stream of integers nums.
  • int add(int val) Appends the integer val to the stream and returns the element representing the k-th largest element in the stream.

Example 1:

  • Input:
["KthLargest", "add", "add", "add", "add", "add"]
[[3, [4, 5, 8, 2]], [3], [5], [10], [9], [4]]
  • Output:
[null, 4, 5, 5, 8, 8]
  • Explanation:
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KthLargest kthLargest = new KthLargest(3, [4, 5, 8, 2]);
kthLargest.add(3);   // return 4
kthLargest.add(5);   // return 5
kthLargest.add(10);  // return 5
kthLargest.add(9);   // return 8
kthLargest.add(4);   // return 8

Constraints:

  • 1 <= k <= 10^4
  • 0 <= nums.length <= 10^4
  • -10^4 <= nums[i] <= 10^4
  • -10^4 <= val <= 10^4
  • At most 10^4 calls will be made to add.
  • It is guaranteed that there will be at least k elements in the array when you search for the k-th element.

Solution⚓︎

Using Set⚓︎

class KthLargest {
private:
    int _k;
    multiset<int> s;
public:
    KthLargest(int k, vector<int>& nums) {
        for (int num : nums) {
            s.insert(num);
            if (s.size() > k) s.erase(s.begin());
        }
        _k = k;
    }

    int add(int val) {
        s.insert(val);
        if (s.size() > _k) s.erase(s.begin());
        return *s.begin();
    }
};

/**
 * Your KthLargest object will be instantiated and called as such:
 * KthLargest* obj = new KthLargest(k, nums);
 * int param_1 = obj->add(val);
 */

Using Heap⚓︎

class KthLargest {
private:
    int _k;
    priority_queue<int, vector<int>, greater<int>> q;
public:
    KthLargest(int k, vector<int>& nums) {
        for (int num : nums) {
            q.push(num);
            if (q.size() > k) q.pop();
        }
        this->_k = k;
    }

    int add(int val) {
       q.push(val);
       if (q.size() > _k) q.pop();
       return q.top(); 
    }
};

/**
 * Your KthLargest object will be instantiated and called as such:
 * KthLargest* obj = new KthLargest(k, nums);
 * int param_1 = obj->add(val);
 */
  • Time complexity: \(O(n\log k)\) for initializing elements in the heap, and \(O(\log k)\) for each insertion operation;
  • Space complexity: \(O(k)\).