Swim In Rising Water

Swim In Rising Water Problem

You are given a square 2D matrix grid of distinct integers, where grid[i][j] represents the elevation at position (i, j).

Rain starts at time = 0, causing the water level to rise. At time t, the water level becomes t across the entire grid.

You can move horizontally or vertically between two adjacent squares if their elevations are less than or equal to the water level at time t.

Starting from the top-left square (0, 0), return the minimum time required to reach the bottom-right square (n – 1, n – 1).

Swim In Rising Water Problem

Examples related to Swim In Rising Water Problem

Example 1:

Swim In Rising Water Example 1

Example 2:

Swim In Rising Water Example 2

Constraints:

  • grid.length == grid[i].length
  • 1 <= grid.length <= 50
  • 0 <= grid[i][j] < n^2

Hints to solve Swim In Rising Water Problem

Recommended Time & Space Complexity

Aim for a solution with a time complexity of O((n²) log n) and a space complexity of O(n²), where n is the number of rows or columns in the grid.

Hint 1:

  • Imagine the grid as a graph where each cell is a node. Movement to an adjacent cell is possible if the current time is at least equal to the adjacent cell’s elevation.

  • Swimming itself doesn’t take time, but you may need to wait at a cell for the water level to rise enough.

  • Notice that the goal is to find the optimal path from (0, 0) to (n-1, n-1).

  • Could a greedy approach help?

Hint 2:

  • The time taken to traverse a path depends on the highest elevation along the path.

  • To minimize this time, you need to find a path where the maximum elevation is as small as possible.

  • Can a shortest-path algorithm be adapted to solve this problem?

Hint 3:

  • Use Dijkstra’s Algorithm with a Min-Heap. Initialize a Min-Heap and a distance matrix filled with infinity.

  • Start from the source (0, 0), and for every path, track the maximum elevation encountered. Use this maximum elevation as the key for comparisons.

  • When you reach the destination (n-1, n-1), return the smallest maximum elevation recorded along the path.

Methods to Solve Swim In Rising Water Problem

There are mainly 5 approach to solve Swim In Rising Water problem:

  1. Brute Force Method
  2. Depth First Search Method
  3. Binary Search + DFS
  4. Dijkstra’s Algorithm
  5. Kruskal’s Algorithm

1. Brute Force Method

Explore all possible paths from the start to the end, tracking the maximum elevation along each path. Return the minimum of these maximums. This method is simple but inefficient for larger grids due to its exhaustive nature.

  • Time complexity: O(4^{n^{2}})
  • Space complexity: O(n^2)

Code:

2. Depth First Search (DFS) Method

Use DFS to explore paths from the top-left to the bottom-right of the grid. Track the maximum elevation encountered along the way and backtrack when necessary to find the minimum maximum elevation path.

  • Time complexity: O(n^4)
  • Space complexity: O(n^2)

Code:

3. Binary Search + DFS

Use binary search to determine the smallest possible elevation that allows you to reach the destination. For each mid-value, use DFS to check if a path exists within that elevation constraint.

  • Time complexity: O(n^{2}log n)
  • Space complexity:

Code:

4. Dijkstra’s Algorithm

Treat the grid as a weighted graph where elevation acts as the cost. Use a Min-Heap to find the path from the top-left to the bottom-right that minimizes the highest elevation encountered.

  • Time complexity: O(n^{2}log n)
  • Space complexity: O(n^2)

Code:

5. Kruskal’s Algorithm

View the problem as finding a Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) over the grid. Use Kruskal’s algorithm to connect nodes (cells) with edges weighted by elevation, ensuring all nodes are connected with minimal maximum elevation.

  • Time complexity: O(n^{2}log n)
  • Space complexity: O(n^{2})

Code:

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