solve: findMinimumInRotatedSortedArray

Author: GaggleHelena

find-minimum-in-rotated-sorted-array/yolophg.py

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+# Time Complexity: O(log n) - using binary search, so cut the search space in half each time.
+# Space Complexity: O(1) - only use a few variables (low, high, mid), no extra space.
+
+class Solution:
+    def findMin(self, nums: List[int]) -> int:
+        low = 0
+        # start with the full range of the array
+        high = len(nums) - 1  
+
+        # find the middle index
+        while low < high:
+            mid = low + (high - low) // 2  
+
+            # if mid is greater than the last element, the min must be on the right
+            if nums[mid] > nums[high]:
+                # move the low pointer to the right
+                low = mid + 1  
+            else:
+                # min could be mid or in the left part
+                high = mid  
+        # low and high converge to the minimum element
+        return nums[low]