EASY Greedy
605. Can Place Flowers
📖 Problem
You have a long flowerbed in which some of the plots are planted, and some are not. However, flowers cannot be planted in adjacent plots. Given an integer array flowerbed containing 0's and 1's, where 0 means empty and 1 means not empty, and an integer n, return true if n new flowers can be planted in the flowerbed without violating the no-adjacent-flowers rule and false otherwise.
🧠 Visual Learning Aid
1 Model the input into the right structure
2 Choose the core technique and invariant
3 Execute step-by-step with a sample
4 Validate complexity and edge cases
JS/TS Refreshers
- •Array methods (`push`, `pop`, `shift`, `slice`)
- •Object/Map/Set usage patterns
- •Function parameter and return typing
Logical Thinking Concepts
- •Define invariants before coding
- •Check edge cases first (`[]`, single element, duplicates)
- •Estimate time/space before implementation
- •Apply Greedy reasoning pattern
💡 Approach
- → Greedy: place flower whenever possible
- → Check if current position and neighbors are empty
- → For edge positions, only check one neighbor
- → Time: O(n), Space: O(1)
🛠️ Hints & Pitfalls
Hints
- •Greedy: place flower whenever possible
- •Check if current position and neighbors are empty
- •For edge positions, only check one neighbor
Common Pitfalls
- •Time: O(n), Space: O(1)
🧪 Test Cases
Hidden tests on submit: 1
Test Case 1
Not run Input:
canPlaceFlowers([1,0,0,0,1], 1); Expected:
false Test Case 2
Not run Input:
canPlaceFlowers([1,0,0,0,1], 2); Expected:
false Test Case 3
Not run Input:
canPlaceFlowers([0], 1); Expected:
false 📝 Code Editor
📤 Output