11. Container With Most Water

#two-pointers

Problem

Container With Most Water - LeetCodeLeetCode

Intuition

Time Complexity

Space Complexity

Solution

class Solution {
    public int maxArea(int[] height) {
        // n -> heights.length, number of heights
        // Time Complexity: O(n), we need to process all the heights
        // Space Complexity: O(1), no extra space except few variables are used
        // It can also be called as auxillary space complexity
        
        int start = 0;
        int end = height.length - 1;
        int maxArea = Integer.MIN_VALUE; 
        
        // Loop until the start and end pointers meet
        while (start < end) {
            int startHt = height[start]; // Height at the start pointer
            int endHt = height[end]; // Height at the end pointer
            int width = end - start; // Width of the container
            int area = 0; // Area of the container
            
            // Calculate the area based on the shorter height
            if (startHt <= endHt) {
                area = startHt * width;
                start++; // Move the start pointer towards the center
            } else {
                area = endHt * width;
                end--; // Move the end pointer towards the center
            }
            
            // Update the maximum area if necessary
            maxArea = Math.max(maxArea, area);
        }
        
        return maxArea;
    }
}