Sliding Window/Maximum Points You Can Obtain From CardsMedium

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Maximum Points You Can Obtain From Cards

Sliding Window·Medium

You are given an integer array cardPoints representing a row of cards, and an integer k. On each step you must take exactly one card from either the start or the end of the row. After taking exactly k cards, return the maximum total score you can achieve.

Equivalent formulation: choose any k cards taken only from the two ends. The cards you leave behind form a contiguous window of length n - k in the middle. Minimize the sum of that middle window — what remains is the maximum.

Examples

Input: cardPoints = [1,2,3,4,5,6,1], k = 3

Output: 12

Take the last three: `5 + 6 + 1 = 12`.

Input: cardPoints = [2,2,2], k = 2

Output: 4

Any two cards sum to 4.

Input: cardPoints = [9,7,7,9,7,7,9], k = 7

Output: 55

k equals the length, so take everything.

Constraints

1 <= cardPoints.length <= 10^5
1 <= cardPoints[i] <= 10^4
1 <= k <= cardPoints.length

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Tests

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Passed32 ms

First attempt — retry to track metric movement here.

Your approach

Pattern:Sliding Window
Time:O(N)
Space:O(1)

Complete approach — pattern and complexity both named.

Coach

What you got right

You correctly matched the sorted input requirement and implemented a linear-time scan using two pointers.

Where it diverged

No divergence detected. The code correctly aligns with the stated approach.

Next attempt: focus on

Try solving related sliding window problems to build familiarity with two-pointer variants.

Signals

No signals fired — clean run, you stayed in flow.