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A2Z Sheet

344. LCA in BST

Medium
Step 14: Binary Search Trees [Concept and Problems]›Practice Problems

LCA in BST

MediumFunction: lcaInBst()
ASCI Mission Breakdown • Simple as Hell
"Master LCA in BST: Take `root` (number[]), execute an optimal practice problems strategy, and return number[] with clean edge-case handling."
Real-World Metaphor:

Think of LCA in BST as an everyday real-world challenge: you receive input data, inspect its elements in sequence without making unnecessary duplicate passes, and transform the collection to reach the exact target without wasting computer memory.

Interactive Visual WalkthroughBINARY-TREE
Step 1 / 3
StatusInitialized
ModeScanning
Evaluating

1. Initialize State for LCA in BST

Load inputs and initialize algorithmic registers.

How to Think About This (Mental Model)

  1. Unpack the problem parameters (`root` (number[])) and clarify what is given vs what must be returned.
  2. Identify the optimal data structure or pattern (e.g. pointers, hash map, or stack) to avoid redundant recalculations.
  3. Walk through state transitions, handle edge cases (empty collections, single items, negative numbers), and return the verified result.

Given the root of a binary tree (represented as level-order array `root`), compute the solution for **LCA in BST**. Account for null nodes and recursive subproblem properties.

Examples

Example 1
Input: root = [3,9,20,null,null,15,7]
Output: [9,3,15,20,7]

Constraints

  • The number of nodes in the tree is in the range [0, 10^4].
  • -1000 <= Node.val <= 1000
Topic Tags:
Binary Search Trees [Concept and Problems]Practice ProblemslcaInBst
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