Find top-k distinct elements

Q: Find top-k distinct elements

This question evaluates understanding of algorithms and data structures for selecting distinct top-k values and enforcing ordering constraints. It is commonly asked in coding and algorithms interviews to assess practical application skills in handling duplicates, ordering, and performance optimization, reflecting a practical algorithmic application rather than purely conceptual reasoning.

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Question

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Given an integer array nums and an integer k, return the k largest distinct values from nums.

Requirements

Values in the output must be distinct (no duplicates).
Return the selected values in descending order .
If there are fewer than k distinct values, return all distinct values in descending order.

Input

nums : array of integers (may contain duplicates)
k : positive integer

Output

array/list of integers

Example

nums = [5, 2, 2, 9, 1, 9, 7], k = 3 → output [9, 7, 5]

Constraints (typical)

1 ≤ len(nums) ≤ 10^5
1 ≤ k ≤ len(nums)

Follow-up

Target time complexity better than sorting all elements when possible (e.g., O(n log k) using a heap).

Find top-k distinct elements

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