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Studio Lighting Slots

Published at05 Jan 2026
Created by
Array Manipulation Easy 16 views
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You can think of this as a small game with a very specific goal. In Studio Lighting Slots, you are trying to work toward the right list by following one clear idea.

Schedule non-overlapping studio lighting slots A good way to think about it is to first understand what goes in, then what rule you must follow, and finally what shape the answer should have.

For example, if the input is nums = [11], the answer is [11]. A single slot stays the same because the order was already correct. Another example is nums = [6,2,6,4], which gives [2,4,6,6]. Duplicate lighting slots remain while the list climbs from lowest to highest.

This is a friendly practice problem, but it still rewards careful reading. The key is understanding the rule clearly and then applying it carefully.

One helpful habit is to say the rule out loud in your own words before you start solving. If you can explain what counts, what changes, and what the final answer should look like, you are already much closer to the right solution.

Example Input & Output

Example 1
Input
nums = [6,2,6,4]
Output
[2,4,6,6]
Explanation

Duplicate lighting slots remain while the list climbs from lowest to highest.

Example 2
Input
nums = [3,-1,3,0]
Output
[-1,0,3,3]
Explanation

Negative flags and standard slots stay visible in ascending order.

Example 3
Input
nums = [11]
Output
[11]
Explanation

A single slot stays the same because the order was already correct.

Algorithm Flow

Recommendation Algorithm Flow for Studio Lighting Slots

Solution Approach

The goal of Studio Lighting Slots is to arrange the given slot values in ascending order, keeping any duplicates. The examples show that repeated values are preserved, so the answer is simply the input array sorted from smallest to largest.

Because the task is a standard ascending sort, the simplest approach is to use a built-in sort. However, we must sort numerically rather than lexicographically, otherwise values like 10 would be ordered before 5 because of string comparison.

Here is the implementation:

function organize_lighting_slots(nums) {
    return nums.slice().sort(function (a, b) {
        return a - b;
    });
}

Two details matter. First, nums.slice() creates a copy so the original array is not mutated. Second, the comparator function (a, b) { return a - b; } forces a numeric comparison, which correctly handles negative values and multi-digit numbers.

Let us verify with nums = [6, 2, 6, 4]. Sorting numerically gives [2, 4, 6, 6], keeping both 6 entries. For [3, -1, 3, 0], the result is [-1, 0, 3, 3]. A single element like [11] stays as [11], and an empty array returns [].

The time complexity of the built-in sort is O(n log n) on average, and the space complexity is O(n) because we create a copy of the input.

Best Answers

java
import java.util.*;
class Solution {
    public int[] organize_lighting_slots(int[] nums) {
        int[] res = nums.clone();
        Arrays.sort(res);
        return res;
    }
}