Leetcode #1398: Customers Who Bought Products A and B but Not C
In this guide, we solve Leetcode #1398 Customers Who Bought Products A and B but Not C in Python and focus on the core idea that makes the solution efficient.
You will see the intuition, the step-by-step method, and a clean Python implementation you can use in interviews.
Problem Statement
Table: Customers +---------------------+---------+ | Column Name | Type | +---------------------+---------+ | customer_id | int | | customer_name | varchar | +---------------------+---------+ customer_id is the column with unique values for this table. customer_name is the name of the customer.
Quick Facts
- Difficulty: Medium
- Premium: Yes
- Tags: Database
Intuition
The task is relational in nature, which maps cleanly to DataFrame operations in Python.
By treating tables as DataFrames, joins and group-bys become concise and readable.
Approach
Load the inputs as DataFrames and apply the appropriate merge, filter, or group-by.
Select or rename the columns to match the required output.
Steps:
- Load inputs as DataFrames.
- Apply merge/groupby/filter operations.
- Select the output columns.
Example
+---------------------+---------+
| Column Name | Type |
+---------------------+---------+
| customer_id | int |
| customer_name | varchar |
+---------------------+---------+
customer_id is the column with unique values for this table.
customer_name is the name of the customer.
Python Solution
import duckdb
import pandas as pd
def solution(customers: pd.DataFrame, orders: pd.DataFrame) -> pd.DataFrame:
con = duckdb.connect()
con.register("Customers", customers)
con.register("Orders", orders)
return con.execute("""SELECT customer_id, customer_name
FROM
Customers
LEFT JOIN Orders USING (customer_id)
GROUP BY 1
HAVING SUM(product_name = 'A') > 0 AND SUM(product_name = 'B') > 0 AND SUM(product_name = 'C') = 0
ORDER BY 1;""").df()
Complexity
The time complexity is O(n log n) (typical). The space complexity is O(n).
Edge Cases and Pitfalls
Watch for boundary values, empty inputs, and duplicate values where applicable. If the problem involves ordering or constraints, confirm the invariant is preserved at every step.
Summary
This Python solution focuses on the essential structure of the problem and keeps the implementation interview-friendly while meeting the constraints.