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Problem solution · C++

Sort Items by Groups Respecting Dependencies

Sort Items by Groups Respecting Dependencies: a C++ solution using depth-first search. Learn the idea, check the complexity, and read the full code, with credit to walkccc LeetCode Solutions.

Technique
Depth-first search
Source
walkccc LeetCode Solutions
Length
52 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 Sort Items by Groups Respecting Dependencies, 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

  • 52 lines of C++ from the credited upstream file 1203.cpp.
  • The implementation visibly relies on sequence storage.
  • 5 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 walkccc LeetCode Solutions by P.-Y. Chen (walkccc) and is used under the MIT licence.

Open problem ↗Original source ↗
Full codeSort Items by Groups Respecting Dependencies · C++C++
Use this to learn the idea, then write your own version.
class Solution { public:  vector<int> sortItems(int n, int m, vector<int>& group,                        vector<vector<int>>& beforeItems) {    vector<vector<int>> graph(n + m);    vector<int> inDegrees(n + m);     // Build the graph by remapping the k-th group to k + n imaginary node.    for (int i = 0; i < group.size(); ++i) {      if (group[i] == -1)        continue;      graph[group[i] + n].push_back(i);      ++inDegrees[i];    }     for (int i = 0; i < beforeItems.size(); ++i)      for (const int b : beforeItems[i]) {        const int u = group[b] == -1 ? b : group[b] + n;        const int v = group[i] == -1 ? i : group[i] + n;        if (u == v) {  // u and v are already in the same group.          graph[b].push_back(i);          ++inDegrees[i];        } else {          graph[u].push_back(v);          ++inDegrees[v];        }      }     // Perform topological sorting.    vector<int> ans;     for (int i = 0; i < n + m; ++i)      if (inDegrees[i] == 0)  // inDegrees[i] == -1 means visited.        dfs(graph, i, inDegrees, n, ans);     return ans.size() == n ? ans : vector<int>();  }  private:  void dfs(const vector<vector<int>>& graph, int u, vector<int>& inDegrees,           int n, vector<int>& ans) {    if (u < n)      ans.push_back(u);     inDegrees[u] = -1;  // Mark as visited.     for (const int v : graph[u])      if (--inDegrees[v] == 0)        dfs(graph, v, inDegrees, n, ans);  }};

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