Solution: Merge Sorted Array
Explore how to merge two sorted arrays efficiently using the K-way merge pattern. Learn to implement a backward traversal algorithm that merges arrays in place with O(n + m) time complexity and constant space usage, improving on naive sorting methods. Understand pointer manipulation for optimal merging without extra storage.
Statement
You are given two integer arrays, nums1 and nums2, both sorted in non-decreasing order. You are also given two integers, m and n, representing the number of elements in nums1 and nums2, respectively.
Your task is to merge the elements of nums2 into nums1 so that nums1 becomes a single array sorted in non-decreasing order.
The merged result is stored in nums1, which has a total length of m + n. The first m positions contain the initial elements, the last n positions are placeholders (initialized to 0), and nums2 contains the n elements to merge.
Constraints:
nums1.length