# Time: O(nlogk) # Space: O(k) # You have k lists of sorted integers in ascending order. # Find the smallest range that includes at least one number from each of the k lists. # # We define the range [a,b] is smaller than range [c,d] if b-a < d-c or a < c if b-a == d-c. # # Example 1: # Input:[[4,10,15,24,26], [0,9,12,20], [5,18,22,30]] # Output: [20,24] # Explanation: # List 1: [4, 10, 15, 24,26], 24 is in range [20,24]. # List 2: [0, 9, 12, 20], 20 is in range [20,24]. # List 3: [5, 18, 22, 30], 22 is in range [20,24]. # Note: # The given list may contain duplicates, so ascending order means >= here. # 1 <= k <= 3500 # -10^5 <= value of elements <= 10^5. # For Java users, please note that the input type has been changed to List>. # And after you reset the code template, you'll see this point. import heapq class Solution(object): def smallestRange(self, nums): """ :type nums: List[List[int]] :rtype: List[int] """ left, right = float("inf"), float("-inf") min_heap = [] for row in nums: left = min(left, row[0]) right = max(right, row[0]) it = iter(row) heapq.heappush(min_heap, (next(it, None), it)) result = (left, right) while min_heap: (val, it) = heapq.heappop(min_heap) val = next(it, None) if val is None: break heapq.heappush(min_heap, (val, it)) left, right = min_heap[0][0], max(right, val); if right - left < result[1] - result[0]: result = (left, right) return result