Kth smallest element in sorted matrix

Question

This is an interview question.

Find the K^th smallest element in a matrix with sorted rows and columns.
Is it correct that the K^th small

Answer 1

As people mentioned previously the easiest way is to build a min heap. Here's a Java implementation using PriorityQueue:

private int kthSmallestUsingHeap(int[][] matrix, int k) {

    int n = matrix.length;

    // This is not necessary since this is the default Int comparator behavior
    Comparator comparator = new Comparator() {
        @Override
        public int compare(Integer o1, Integer o2) {
            return o1 - o2;
        }
    };

    // building a minHeap
    PriorityQueue pq = new PriorityQueue<>(n*n, comparator);
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
        for (int j = 0; j < n; j++) {
            pq.add(matrix[i][j]);
        }
    }

    int ans = -1;
    // remove the min element k times
    for (int i = 0; i < k; i++) {
        ans = pq.poll();
    }

    return ans;
}