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Data Structures and Algorithms in Python

Intersection of Two Sorted Arrays

Explore efficient methods to determine the common elements between two sorted arrays in Python. Learn both set-based and two-pointer techniques to handle sorted and unsorted data, including handling duplicates and optimizing runtime.

We'll cover the following...

In this lesson, we will be solving the following problem:

Given two sorted arrays, A and B, determine their intersection. What elements are common to A and B?

There is a one-line solution to this problem in Python that will also work in the event when the arrays are not sorted.

Python 3.5
A = [2, 3, 3, 5, 7, 11]
B = [3, 3, 7, 15, 31]
print(set(A).intersection(B))

The set function in Python operates on a list and returns a set object that contains the unique elements of that list. A is converted into a set on line 4 by using set(A). Now there is another built-in function in Python called intersection which operates on sets. In the code above, intersection returns a set which is the intersection of A ...