Minimize Maximum Pair Sum in Array

arraytwo pointersgreedy

Problem Statement

The pair sum of a pair (a,b) is equal to a + b . The maximum pair sum is the largest pair sum in a list of pairs.

For example, if we have pairs (1,5) , (2,3) , and (4,4) , the maximum pair sum would be max(1+5, 2+3, 4+4) = max(6, 5, 8) = 8 .

Given an array nums of even length n , pair up the elements of nums into n / 2 pairs such that:

Each element of nums is in exactly one pair, and

The maximum pair sum is minimized .

Return the minimized maximum pair sum after optimally pairing up the elements .

Examples

Example 1

Input: nums = [3,5,2,3]
Output: 7
The elements can be paired up into pairs (3,3) and (5,2).
The maximum pair sum is max(3+3, 5+2) = max(6, 7) = 7.

Example 2

Input: nums = [3,5,4,2,4,6]
Output: 8
The elements can be paired up into pairs (3,5), (4,4), and (6,2).
The maximum pair sum is max(3+5, 4+4, 6+2) = max(8, 8, 8) = 8.

Constraints

n == nums.length

2 <= n <= 10 ^5

n is even .

1 <= nums[i] <= 10 ^5

🤔

Medium

Difficulty

Topic Info

ModuleDSA

CategoryArray

Sub-topicTwo Pointers