Merge Intervals

Problem Statement

Given an array of intervals where intervals[i] = [starti, endi], merge all overlapping intervals, and return an array of the non-overlapping intervals that cover all the intervals in the input.

Leetcode Link

Example 1:

Input: intervals = [[1,3],[2,6],[8,10],[15,18]]
Output: [[1,6],[8,10],[15,18]]
Explanation: Since intervals [1,3] and [2,6] overlap, merge them into [1,6].

Example 2:

Input: intervals = [[1,4],[4,5]]
Output: [[1,5]]
Explanation: Intervals [1,4] and [4,5] are considered overlapping.

Constraints:

• 1 <= intervals.length <= 104
• intervals[i].length == 2
• 0 <= starti <= endi <= 104

Code

java Code

class Solution {
    public int[][] merge(int[][] intervals) {
        if (intervals.length <= 1)
            return intervals;

        // Sort by ascending starting point
        Arrays.sort(intervals, (i1, i2) -> Integer.compare(i1[0], i2[0]));

        List<int[]> result = new ArrayList<>();
        int[] newInterval = intervals[0];
        result.add(newInterval);
        for (int[] interval : intervals) {
            if (interval[0] <= newInterval[1]) // Overlapping intervals, move the end if needed
                newInterval[1] = Math.max(newInterval[1], interval[1]);
            else {                             // Disjoint intervals, add the new interval to the list
                newInterval = interval;
                result.add(newInterval);
            }
        }

        return result.toArray(new int[result.size()][]);
    }
}