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Split Array Largest Sum

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Given an integer array nums and an integer k, split nums into k non-empty subarrays such that the largest sum of any subarray is minimized.

Return the minimized largest sum of the split.

A subarray is a contiguous part of the array.

#Binary search + Greedy solution
class Solution:
    def countPartitions(self, nums, maxSum):
        partitions = 1
        subSum = 0
        for num in nums:
            if subSum + num <= maxSum:
                subSum += num
            else:
                partitions += 1
                subSum = num
        return partitions

    def splitArray(self, nums: List[int], k: int) -> int:
        low = max(nums)
        high = sum(nums)
        while low <= high:
            mid = (low + high) // 2
            partitions = self.countPartitions(nums, mid)
            if partitions > k:
                low = mid + 1
            else:
                high = mid - 1
        return low

This is a canonical binary search problem. It is often phrased in a way where it asks to minimize the weight of shipments and there are a few variations on the same theme.

Posted by Jamie Meyer 7 months ago

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