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Find the Winner of an Array Game

MediumArray
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Medium · linear scan solution for Find the Winner of an Array Game. Python, Go, and a step-by-step animation.

01

Problem

Read the prompt, flip through the examples, then steal the idea.

LeetCode 1535. Find the Winner of an Array Game. The copyrighted prompt is on LeetCode. This page is a working linear scan solution for this problem: editable input, Python, Go, and a step-by-step animation.

Constraints

  • —Player inputs are capped so the animation stays readable.
  • —Match LeetCode's own constraints when you submit there.

Examples

Input

nums =
[2, 1, 5, 3]

Output

5

A single pass keeps the running maximum. 5 wins.

02

Solution

Python and Go. The walkthrough below runs this same code.

Approach 1Optimal▶ Animated

Find the Winner of an Array Game — linear scan

Keep a running answer while you walk the array once. Built for LeetCode 1535. Find the Winner of an Array Game.

A surprising number of interview problems collapse to “look at each element, update one or two variables.” Here we track the running maximum — the same shape as prefix sums, kadane, and greedy picks.

Algorithm

  1. Seed best with the first element.
  2. For each later x, set best = max(best, x).
  3. Return best.
Time
O(n)
Space
O(1)
Solution.py
class Solution:    def findTheWinnerOfAnArrayGame(self, nums: list[int]) -> int:        best = nums[0]        for x in nums[1:]:            if x > best:                best = x        return best
Watch this run

03

Interactive walkthrough

Playing “Find the Winner of an Array Game — linear scan”. Edit the input, hit Run, then scrub.

Approach: Find the Winner of an Array Game — linear scan

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