Largest Subarray Length K - Problem

An array A is larger than some array B if for the first index i where A[i] != B[i], we have A[i] > B[i].

For example, consider 0-indexing: [1,3,2,4] > [1,2,2,4], since at index 1, 3 > 2. Similarly, [1,4,4,4] < [2,1,1,1], since at index 0, 1 < 2.

A subarray is a contiguous subsequence of the array. Given an integer array nums of distinct integers, return the largest subarray of nums of length k.

Input & Output

Example 1 — Basic Case
$ Input: nums = [1,4,3,2,5], k = 3
Output: [4,3,2]
💡 Note: Possible subarrays: [1,4,3], [4,3,2], [3,2,5]. Compare lexicographically: [4,3,2] > [1,4,3] (4 > 1) and [4,3,2] > [3,2,5] (4 > 3)
Example 2 — Larger Array
$ Input: nums = [1,2,3,4], k = 2
Output: [3,4]
💡 Note: Possible subarrays: [1,2], [2,3], [3,4]. Compare: [3,4] > [2,3] (3 > 2) and [3,4] > [1,2] (3 > 1)
Example 3 — Single Element
$ Input: nums = [1,4,3,2,5], k = 1
Output: [5]
💡 Note: All subarrays of length 1: [1], [4], [3], [2], [5]. The largest is [5] since 5 is the maximum element

Constraints

  • 1 ≤ nums.length ≤ 105
  • 1 ≤ k ≤ nums.length
  • 1 ≤ nums[i] ≤ 109
  • All integers in nums are distinct

Visualization

Tap to expand
Largest Subarray Length K: Input → OutputInput Array14325k = 3Possible subarrays of length 3:[1,4,3][4,3,2] ← largest[3,2,5]Lexicographic comparison: [4,3,2] wins because 4 > 1 and 4 > 3Result432
Understanding the Visualization
1
Input
Array [1,4,3,2,5] and k=3
2
Process
Find all subarrays of length 3 and compare lexicographically
3
Output
Return the largest: [4,3,2]
Key Takeaway
🎯 Key Insight: Lexicographic comparison means we compare element by element until we find a difference
Asked in
Google 35 Amazon 28 Microsoft 22
23.4K Views
Medium Frequency
~25 min Avg. Time
890 Likes
Ln 1, Col 1
Smart Actions
💡 Explanation
AI Ready
💡 Suggestion Tab to accept Esc to dismiss
// Output will appear here after running code
Code Editor Closed
Click the red button to reopen