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Leetcode #2174: Remove All Ones With Row and Column Flips II

In this guide, we solve Leetcode #2174 Remove All Ones With Row and Column Flips II 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.

Leetcode

Problem Statement

You are given a 0-indexed m x n binary matrix grid. In one operation, you can choose any i and j that meet the following conditions: 0 <= i < m 0 <= j < n grid[i][j] == 1 and change the values of all cells in row i and column j to zero.

Quick Facts

  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Premium: Yes
  • Tags: Bit Manipulation, Breadth-First Search, Array, Matrix

Intuition

We need level-by-level exploration or shortest steps, which is ideal for BFS.

A queue naturally models the frontier of the search.

Approach

Push initial nodes into a queue and expand in layers.

Track visited nodes to prevent cycles.

Steps:

  • Initialize queue with start nodes.
  • Process level by level.
  • Track visited nodes.

Example

Input: grid = [[1,1,1],[1,1,1],[0,1,0]] Output: 2 Explanation: In the first operation, change all cell values of row 1 and column 1 to zero. In the second operation, change all cell values of row 0 and column 0 to zero.

Python Solution

class Solution: def removeOnes(self, grid: List[List[int]]) -> int: m, n = len(grid), len(grid[0]) state = sum(1 << (i * n + j) for i in range(m) for j in range(n) if grid[i][j]) q = deque([state]) vis = {state} ans = 0 while q: for _ in range(len(q)): state = q.popleft() if state == 0: return ans for i in range(m): for j in range(n): if grid[i][j] == 0: continue nxt = state for r in range(m): nxt &= ~(1 << (r * n + j)) for c in range(n): nxt &= ~(1 << (i * n + c)) if nxt not in vis: vis.add(nxt) q.append(nxt) ans += 1 return -1

Complexity

The time complexity is O(V+E). The space complexity is O(V).

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.


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