NoBugNinja’s Leetcode Pattern Recognition Cheat
Sheet (Version 1)
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Step 1: Check The Constraints
Small n (≤ 20):
● Brute force approaches are viable
● Backtracking and recursion
● Exponential time complexity (2^n, n!) is acceptable
● Try all possible combinations/permutations
Medium n (10^3 to 10^6):
● No brute force solutions
● Linear time O(n) or O(n log n) solutions
● Greedy algorithms
● Two pointers technique
● Heap-based solutions
● Dynamic programming
Large n (≥ 10^7):
● No linear time solutions
● O(log n) solutions only
● Binary search
● Mathematical formulas
● O(1) constant time approaches
Step 2: Analyze Input Format
Tree/Binary Tree/BST:
● Tree traversal (DFS/BFS)
● DFS for: all paths, recursive exploration,
preorder/inorder/postorder
● BFS for: level-by-level, shortest path in
unweighted tree
● Consider: tree properties, parent-child
relationships
Graph (nodes + edges):
● BFS for shortest path
● DFS for connected components
● Union Find for "connected components" or "number of
groups"
● Topological sort for dependencies
2D Grid/Matrix:
● DFS/BFS for "islands" problems
● Union Find for connected regions
● Dynamic programming for path problems
● Consider: 4-directional or 8-directional movement
Sorted Array:
● Two pointers technique
● Binary search
● Greedy approach
String:
● Two pointers for palindromes
● Sliding window for substrings
● Trie for word problems
● Stack for parentheses/brackets
Linked List:
● Two pointers (fast/slow)
● Dummy node techniques
● Cycle detection
Step 3: Analyze Output Format
List of Lists (combinations, subsets, paths):
● Backtracking is almost always the answer
● Generate all possibilities
● Use recursion with choice/no-choice pattern
Single Number (max/min profit, cost, ways, jumps):
● Dynamic Programming for optimization
● Greedy for local optimal choices
● Mathematical approach for counting
Modified Array/String (in-place operations):
● Two Pointers for in-place modifications
Ordered List (sorted sequence, valid task order):
● Sorting with custom comparators
● Topological Sort for dependencies
● Heap for maintaining order
Step 4: Keyword Pattern Recognition
Dynamic Programming Keywords:
● "Number of ways"
● "Maximum/minimum" + "sum/profit/cost"
● "Can you reach"
● "Longest/shortest subsequence"
● "Optimal" or "best"
Two Pointers Keywords:
● "Palindrome"
● "Sorted array"
● "Target sum"
● "Remove duplicates"
Heap Keywords:
● "K largest" or "K smallest"
● "Top K elements"
● "Median"
● "Priority"
Stack Keywords:
● "Parentheses" or "brackets"
● "Valid expression"
● "Nested structure"
● "Undo operations"
Monotonic Stack Keywords:
● "Next greater element"
● "Next smaller element"
HashMap Keywords:
● "Count frequency"
● "Find duplicates"
● "Anagram"
Trie Keywords:
● "Word search"
● "Word prefixes"
Greedy Keywords:
● "Minimum operations"
● "Possibly None"
Union Find Keywords:
● "Connected components"
● "Number of groups"
Binary Search Keywords:
● "Kth element"
● "Search in sorted"
● "Minimize maximum"
● "First/last occurrence"
Bit Manipulation:
● "XOR" operations
● "Single number" problems
● “Power of 2”
Math/Geometry:
● "Greatest/Least Common Denominator"
● "Prime numbers"
● "Angle calculations"
● “Coordinate”
Game Theory:
● "Optimal strategy"
● "Win/lose scenarios"
● "Minimax"
Sliding Window:
● "Substring" with conditions
● "Subarray" with fixed/variable size
● "Maximum/minimum window"
● "Contains all"
Sorting:
● "Rearrange array in any order" → Order doesn't
matter