Distinct Values Exclusive to Each of Two Arrays
Company: Bloomberg
Role: Software Engineer
Category: Coding & Algorithms
Difficulty: easy
Interview Round: Other
### Problem
Return two lists for the integer arrays `nums1` and `nums2`. The first must contain every distinct value that occurs in `nums1` but not in `nums2`; the second must contain every distinct value that occurs in `nums2` but not in `nums1`. Values may appear in any order within a list, but the two lists must retain these respective roles.
```cpp
class Solution {
public:
vector<vector<int>> findDifference(vector<int>& nums1, vector<int>& nums2);
};
```
### Examples
**Example 1:**
```text
nums1 = [0,0,2], nums2 = [2,3,3]
Output: [[0],[3]]
Explanation: Repeated exclusive values are emitted only once.
```
**Example 2:**
```text
nums1 = [4,5], nums2 = [5,4]
Output: [[],[]]
Explanation: Both arrays have the same set of values.
```
### Constraints
- Both lengths lie in `[1,1000]`.
- All values lie in `[-1000,1000]`.
### Clarifying Questions
Differences are set differences, not frequency differences. Only inner-list order is free.
```hint Inspect the structure
Why must multiplicity be discarded before emitting exclusive values?
```
### What a Strong Answer Covers
- Include values according to presence in one input and absence from the other, irrespective of frequency.
- Emit each qualifying value only once and preserve the fixed roles of the two result lists.
- Allow either inner order and handle equal value sets or an empty result side.
### Follow-up Questions
Could the small bounded value domain simplify membership tracking?
Overview: Distinct Values Exclusive to Each of Two Arrays. Return a two-list result: the first contains distinct values present in nums1 but absent from nums2, and the second contains distinct values present in nums2 but absent from nums1. The order inside each list is unrestricted; the two list roles stay fixed.