Merge K Sorted Lists
Detailed guide and Python implementation for the 'Merge K Sorted Lists' problem.
Problem Statement
You are given an array of k linked-lists lists, each linked-list is sorted in ascending order.
Merge all the linked-lists into one sorted linked-list and return it.
The linked lists are represented as a list of Python lists. Implement a function mergeKLists(lists: list) -> list that returns the merged sorted list.
- •k == lists.length
- •0 <= k <= 10000
- •0 <= lists[i].length <= 500
- •-10000 <= lists[i][j] <= 10000
- •lists[i] is sorted in ascending order
- •The sum of lists[i].length will not exceed 10000
Examples
[[1,4,5],[1,3,4],[2,6]]
[1,1,2,3,4,4,5,6]
Merging [1,4,5], [1,3,4], and [2,6] gives [1,1,2,3,4,4,5,6].
[]
[]
No lists to merge, so the result is empty.
[[]]
[]
One empty list results in an empty merged list.
Need a Hint?
Edge Cases to Watch
- Empty input structures
- Single element inputs
- Large numerical bounds
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