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search-in-rotated-sorted-array
Suppose an array sorted in ascending order is rotated at some pivot unknown to you beforehand.
(i.e., [0,1,2,4,5,6,7] might become [4,5,6,7,0,1,2]).
You are given a target value to search. If found in the array return its index, otherwise return -1.
You may assume no duplicate exists in the array.
Your algorithm's runtime complexity must be in the order of O(log n).
Example 1:
Input: nums = [4,5,6,7,0,1,2], target = 0
Output: 4
Example 2:
Input: nums = [4,5,6,7,0,1,2], target = 3
Output: -1
This problem asked to implement in
O(logn)
. Binary search should come into your mind when you see O(logn)
, sorted and search keywords.- 1.Intuitive solution is simple, iterate through array, find target in nums return pos, not, return -1,
O(n)
- 2.Binary search, given array is rotated sorted array, meaning there are 2 sorted array. when do binary search, need to carefully comparetarget and nums[mid] and nums[lo] to chose whether go right (higher) or left (lower).
- define
lo, hi, and mid = (lo + hi)/2
. - if
target == nums[mid]
found, return mid and exit. - if
nums[mid] >= nums[lo]
meaning mid is within sorted parts, now compare target,- if
target >= nums[lo] && target <= nums[md]
, target is located in[lo, mid]
sorted part, search left,hi = mid - 1
- else target located in
[mid, hi]
, search right,lo = mid + 1
- else check compare target with hi and mid value
- if
target >= nums[mid] && target <= nums[hi]
, target is located in[mid, hi]
part, search right,lo = mid + 1
else target located in[lo, mid]
part, search left,hi = mid - 1
For example:

Search in Rotated Sorted Array
Time Complexity:
O(log(N))
Space Complexity:
O(1)
- N - the length of array nums
class Solution {
public int search(int[] nums, int target) {
if (nums == null || nums.length == 0) {
return -1;
}
int lo = 0;
int hi = nums.length - 1;
while (lo < hi) {
int mid = lo + (hi - lo) / 2;
// found, return mid, exit
if (nums[mid] == target) {
return mid;
}
// mid is within sorted parts
if (nums[lo] <= nums[mid]) {
// target located at [lo, mid] part, search left
if (target >= nums[lo] && target <= nums[mid]) {
hi = mid - 1;
} else {
lo = mid + 1;
}
} else {
// target located at [mid, hi] part, search right
if (target >= nums[mid] && target <= nums[hi]) {
lo = mid + 1;
} else {
hi = mid - 1;
}
}
}
return nums[lo] == target ? lo : -1;
}
}
Naive solution - O(n)
class Solution {
public int search(int[] nums, int target) {
if (nums == null || nums.length == 0) return -1;
for (int i = 0; i < nums.length; i++) {
if (nums[i] == target) return i;
}
return -1;
}
}
Last modified 3yr ago