Find Minimum in Rotated Sorted Array

MediumArraysBinary Search

Solve this the way you would in the interview: out loud, on a timer, with an AI interviewer asking follow-ups while you code. You get a scored report at the end.

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Problem

Suppose an array of length n sorted in ascending order is rotated between 1 and n times. Given the sorted rotated array nums of unique elements, return the minimum element of this array. You must write an algorithm that runs in O(log n) time.

Examples

Input: nums = [3,4,5,1,2]
Output: 1
The original array was [1,2,3,4,5] rotated 3 times.
Input: nums = [4,5,6,7,0,1,2]
Output: 0
Input: nums = [11,13,15,17]
Output: 11
The array was not rotated (or rotated 4 times).

Constraints

  • n == nums.length
  • 1 <= n <= 5000
  • -5000 <= nums[i] <= 5000
  • All the integers of nums are unique.
  • nums is sorted and rotated between 1 and n times.

What the interviewer grades

A correct solution is one of five scores. The report also grades problem understanding (did you clarify inputs and edge cases before coding), problem solving, communication while you work, code quality, and testing. See a sample report, or read up on the pattern in the lessons.

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