Rotating the Box — LeetCode 1861 Python Solution

The problem

You are given an m x n matrix of characters boxGrid representing a side-view of a box. Each cell of the box is one of the following: A stone '#' A stationary obstacle '*' Empty '.' The box is rotated 90 degrees clockwise, causing some of the stones to fall due to gravity.

Example

Input

boxGrid = [["#",".","#"]]

Output

[["."],

Python solution

class Solution:
    def rotateTheBox(self, box: List[List[str]]) -> List[List[str]]:
        m, n = len(box), len(box[0])
        ans = [[None] * m for _ in range(n)]
        for i in range(m):
            for j in range(n):
                ans[j][m - i - 1] = box[i][j]
        for j in range(m):
            q = deque()
            for i in range(n - 1, -1, -1):
                if ans[i][j] == '*':
                    q.clear()
                elif ans[i][j] == '.':
                    q.append(i)
                elif q:
                    ans[q.popleft()][j] = '#'
                    ans[i][j] = '.'
                    q.append(i)
        return ans

Complexity

Pattern: Two Pointers

Use the order already in the input to discard half the search space at every step. LeetCode 1861. Rotating the Box is filed here on both counts: the reference solution below belongs to the algorithm family this hub collects, and LeetCode tags it Two Pointers.

The two pointers guide has the Python template for the pattern and the 201 LeetCode problems that use it.

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