Return the Third Distinct Maximum or the Maximum
Company: Google
Role: Software Engineer
Category: Coding & Algorithms
Difficulty: easy
Interview Round: Other
# Return the Third Distinct Maximum or the Maximum
Given an integer array `nums`, return its third-largest distinct value. If the array has fewer than three distinct values, return its largest value instead.
### Function
`int thirdMax(vector<int>& nums)`
### Example 1
```text
Input: nums = [9,5,5,2]
Output: 2
```
The distinct values in decreasing order are `9,5,2`. Repeating `5` does not give it another rank.
### Example 2
```text
Input: nums = [-2147483648,-2147483648,7]
Output: 7
```
Only two distinct values exist, so return the maximum.
### Constraints
- `1 <= nums.length <= 10000`.
- `-2147483648 <= nums[i] <= 2147483647`.
### Clarifications
Ranks are assigned to distinct values, not occurrences. Negative numbers and the minimum signed 32-bit value are valid inputs. Return a value, not its array index.
### What a Strong Answer Covers
- Repeated values and fewer than three distinct values.
- The full signed 32-bit input domain.
- Why the returned value has the required distinct rank.
- Correctness and resource bounds.
### Follow-up Questions
Can you solve this in `O(n)` time?
Overview: Practice returning the third-largest distinct integer with the correct maximum fallback. Handle duplicate values, negative inputs, and both signed 32-bit endpoints.