Maximum Value of a String in an Array

Problem Description

Given an array of alphanumeric strings, return the maximum value of any string in the array. The value of a string is defined as the numeric representation if it consists of digits only, or the length of the string otherwise.

Key Insights

• The maximum value can be determined by evaluating each string in the array.
• Strings that contain only digits should be converted to their integer representation to find their value.
• Strings that contain letters (or are alphanumeric) should have their value calculated based on their length.
• We need to iterate through all strings, compute their values, and keep track of the maximum value encountered.

Space and Time Complexity

Time Complexity: O(n) where n is the number of strings in the array. Space Complexity: O(1) since we are using a constant amount of extra space for tracking the maximum value.

Solution

To solve the problem, we will:

1. Initialize a variable to keep track of the maximum value found.
2. Iterate through each string in the input array.
3. For each string, check if it consists of digits only. If it does, convert it to an integer to get its value. If not, use its length as the value.
4. Update the maximum value if the current string's value is greater than the current maximum.
5. Return the maximum value after processing all strings.

The data structure used is a simple integer for tracking the maximum value, and the algorithmic approach involves linear iteration through the array.

Code Solutions