Problem of The Day: Maximum Product of Two Elements in an Array

1 min read 282 words

Problem Statement

leetcode problem link

Solution [accepted]

class Solution:
    def maxProduct(self, nums: List[int]) -> int:
        arr = nums[:]
        for i in range(len(arr)):
            arr[i] -= 1

        arr.sort()
        return arr[-2] * arr[-1]

Editorial

Sort

class Solution:
    def maxProduct(self, nums: List[int]) -> int:
        nums.sort()
        x = nums[-1]
        y = nums[-2]
        return (x - 1) * (y - 1)

Approach 3: Track Second Biggest

class Solution:
    def maxProduct(self, nums: List[int]) -> int:
        biggest = 0
        second_biggest = 0
        for num in nums:
            if num > biggest:
                second_biggest = biggest
                biggest = num
            else:
                second_biggest = max(second_biggest, num)

        return (biggest - 1) * (second_biggest - 1)