[LintCode] Maximum Gap 求最大间距

Posted 2020-08-06 Grandyang

 

Given an unsorted array, find the maximum difference between the successive elements in its sorted form.

Return 0 if the array contains less than 2 elements.

 Notice

You may assume all elements in the array are non-negative integers and fit in the 32-bit signed integer range.

Have you met this question in a real interview? 

Yes

Example

Given [1, 9, 2, 5], the sorted form of it is[1, 2, 5, 9], the maximum gap is between 5and 9 = 4.

Challenge 

Sort is easy but will cost O(nlogn) time. Try to solve it in linear time and space.