Leetcode #721: Accounts Merge
In this guide, we solve Leetcode #721 Accounts Merge 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
Given a list of accounts where each element accounts[i] is a list of strings, where the first element accounts[i][0] is a name, and the rest of the elements are emails representing emails of the account. Now, we would like to merge these accounts.
Quick Facts
- Difficulty: Medium
- Premium: No
- Tags: Depth-First Search, Breadth-First Search, Union Find, Array, Hash Table, String, Sorting
Intuition
Fast membership checks and value lookups are the heart of this problem, which makes a hash map the natural choice.
By storing what we have already seen (or counts/indexes), we can answer the question in one pass without backtracking.
Approach
Scan the input once, using the map to detect when the condition is satisfied and to update state as you go.
This keeps the solution linear while remaining easy to explain in an interview setting.
Steps:
- Initialize a hash map for seen items or counts.
- Iterate through the input, querying/updating the map.
- Return the first valid result or the final computed value.
Example
Input: accounts = [["John","johnsmith@mail.com","john_newyork@mail.com"],["John","johnsmith@mail.com","john00@mail.com"],["Mary","mary@mail.com"],["John","johnnybravo@mail.com"]]
Output: [["John","john00@mail.com","john_newyork@mail.com","johnsmith@mail.com"],["Mary","mary@mail.com"],["John","johnnybravo@mail.com"]]
Explanation:
The first and second John's are the same person as they have the common email "johnsmith@mail.com".
The third John and Mary are different people as none of their email addresses are used by other accounts.
We could return these lists in any order, for example the answer [['Mary', 'mary@mail.com'], ['John', 'johnnybravo@mail.com'],
['John', 'john00@mail.com', 'john_newyork@mail.com', 'johnsmith@mail.com']] would still be accepted.
Python Solution
class UnionFind:
def __init__(self, n):
self.p = list(range(n))
self.size = [1] * n
def find(self, x):
if self.p[x] != x:
self.p[x] = self.find(self.p[x])
return self.p[x]
def union(self, a, b):
pa, pb = self.find(a), self.find(b)
if pa == pb:
return False
if self.size[pa] > self.size[pb]:
self.p[pb] = pa
self.size[pa] += self.size[pb]
else:
self.p[pa] = pb
self.size[pb] += self.size[pa]
return True
class Solution:
def accountsMerge(self, accounts: List[List[str]]) -> List[List[str]]:
uf = UnionFind(len(accounts))
d = {}
for i, (_, *emails) in enumerate(accounts):
for email in emails:
if email in d:
uf.union(i, d[email])
else:
d[email] = i
g = defaultdict(set)
for i, (_, *emails) in enumerate(accounts):
root = uf.find(i)
g[root].update(emails)
return [[accounts[root][0]] + sorted(emails) for root, emails in g.items()]
Complexity
The time complexity is , and the space complexity is . The space complexity is .
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.