Leetcode #1741: Find Total Time Spent by Each Employee
In this guide, we solve Leetcode #1741 Find Total Time Spent by Each Employee 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: Employees +-------------+------+ | Column Name | Type | +-------------+------+ | emp_id | int | | event_day | date | | in_time | int | | out_time | int | +-------------+------+ (emp_id, event_day, in_time) is the primary key (combinations of columns with unique values) of this table. The table shows the employees' entries and exits in an office.
Quick Facts
- Difficulty: Easy
- Premium: No
- 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 |
+-------------+------+
| emp_id | int |
| event_day | date |
| in_time | int |
| out_time | int |
+-------------+------+
(emp_id, event_day, in_time) is the primary key (combinations of columns with unique values) of this table.
The table shows the employees' entries and exits in an office.
event_day is the day at which this event happened, in_time is the minute at which the employee entered the office, and out_time is the minute at which they left the office.
in_time and out_time are between 1 and 1440.
It is guaranteed that no two events on the same day intersect in time, and in_time < out_time.
Python Solution
import duckdb
import pandas as pd
def solution(employees: pd.DataFrame) -> pd.DataFrame:
con = duckdb.connect()
con.register("Employees", employees)
return con.execute("""SELECT event_day AS day, emp_id, SUM(out_time - in_time) AS total_time
FROM Employees
GROUP BY 1, 2;""").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.