Problem solution · C++

Minimum Increments to Equalize Leaf Paths

Minimum Increments to Equalize Leaf Paths: a C++ solution using depth-first search. Learn the idea, check the complexity, and read the full code, with credit to Kamyu LeetCode Solutions.

Technique
Depth-first search
Source
Kamyu LeetCode Solutions
Length
87 lines
Start with the idea.

Try the problem first. If you get stuck, read the approach below, then write your own solution. The full code is at the bottom.

Approach

Depth-first search

For Minimum Increments to Equalize Leaf Paths, the implementation follows one branch at a time, making it suitable for components, trees, backtracking, or dependency exploration.

  1. Define the state carried into one recursive or stack frame.
  2. Mark or choose the current state before exploring children.
  3. Combine child results or undo the choice when the branch finishes.

Code notes

  • 87 lines of C++ from the credited upstream file minimum-increments-to-equalize-leaf-paths.cpp.
  • The implementation visibly relies on sequence storage.
  • 6 loop blocks detected, together with recursive traversal.

Complexity

Count unique states for graph traversal; for backtracking, count the branching factor and maximum depth.

Check the problem constraints before deciding whether this complexity will pass.

Source

Code and credit

This code comes from Kamyu LeetCode Solutions by kamyu104 and is used under the MIT licence.

Full codeMinimum Increments to Equalize Leaf Paths · C++C++
Use this to learn the idea, then write your own version.
// Time:  O(n)// Space: O(n) // iterative dfsclass Solution {public:    int minIncrease(int n, vector<vector<int>>& edges, vector<int>& cost) {        vector<vector<int>> adj(n);        for (const auto& e : edges) {            adj[e[0]].emplace_back(e[1]);            adj[e[1]].emplace_back(e[0]);        }        const auto& iter_dfs = [&]() {            int result = n - 1;            vector<int64_t> mx(n);            vector<tuple<int, int, int>> stk = {{1, 0, -1}};            while (!empty(stk)) {                const auto [step, u, p] = stk.back(); stk.pop_back();                if (step == 1) {                    stk.emplace_back(2, u, p);                    for (const auto& v : adj[u]) {                        if (v == p) {                            continue;                        }                        stk.emplace_back(1, v, u);                    }                } else if (step == 2) {                    int cnt = 0;                    for (const auto& v : adj[u]) {                        if (v == p || mx[v] < mx[u]) {                            continue;                        }                        if (mx[v] > mx[u]) {                            mx[u] = mx[v];                            cnt = 0;                        }                        ++cnt;                    }                    result -= cnt;                    mx[u] += cost[u];                }            }            return result;        };         return iter_dfs();    }}; // Time:  O(n)// Space: O(n)// dfsclass Solution2 {public:    int minIncrease(int n, vector<vector<int>>& edges, vector<int>& cost) {        vector<vector<int>> adj(n);        for (const auto& e : edges) {            adj[e[0]].emplace_back(e[1]);            adj[e[1]].emplace_back(e[0]);        }        int result = n - 1;        const function<int64_t (int, int)> dfs = [&](int u, int p) {            int64_t mx = 0;            int cnt = 0;            for (const auto& v : adj[u]) {                if (v == p) {                    continue;                }                const auto& c = dfs(v, u);                if (c < mx) {                    continue;                }                if (c > mx) {                    mx = c;                    cnt = 0;                }                ++cnt;            }            result -= cnt;            return mx + cost[u];        };         dfs(0, -1);        return result;    }}; 

Did this explanation save you time? I'm a Grade 11 student building this free library to make difficult algorithms easier to understand.

Buy me a coffee ↗