Remove Element — LeetCode 27 Python Solution

The problem

Given an integer array nums and an integer val, remove all occurrences of val in nums in-place. The order of the elements may be changed.

Example

int[] nums = [...]; // Input array
int val = ...; // Value to remove
int[] expectedNums = [...]; // The expected answer with correct length.
                            // It is sorted with no values equaling val.

int k = removeElement(nums, val); // Calls your implementation

assert k == expectedNums.length;
sort(nums, 0, k); // Sort the first k elements of nums
for (int i = 0; i < actualLength; i++) {
    assert nums[i] == expectedNums[i];
}

Python solution

class Solution:
    def removeElement(self, nums: List[int], val: int) -> int:
        k = 0
        for x in nums:
            if x != val:
                nums[k] = x
                k += 1
        return k

Complexity

Pattern: Two Pointers

Use the order already in the input to discard half the search space at every step. LeetCode 27. Remove Element 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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