This Coding & Algorithms question evaluates algorithmic problem-solving skills in array manipulation and constrained optimization, testing competency in reasoning about value distribution, large numeric bounds, and performance under tight complexity limits.
You are given an integer array A of length N and an integer K.
You must perform exactly K operations. In each operation, choose any index i and do A[i] = A[i] - 1.
After all K operations, let min(A) be the minimum value in the array. Your goal is to choose the operations to maximize min(A).
Return the maximum possible value of min(A) after exactly K operations.
Input
A
: array of
N
integers
K
: non-negative integer
Output
Notes / Constraints (reasonable for interviews)
1 <= N <= 2e5
-1e9 <= A[i] <= 1e9
0 <= K <= 1e18
Example
A = [5, 1, 7]
,
K = 3
7
three times →
[5, 1, 4]
, so
min(A) = 1
.
1
.