LeetCode 1046: Last Stone Weight — Step-by-Step Visual Trace

📰 Dev.to · tracelit

Learn to solve the Last Stone Weight problem on LeetCode by implementing a step-by-step solution using a priority queue

intermediate Published 9 Apr 2026
Action Steps
  1. Create a priority queue to store the stone weights
  2. Implement a loop to repeatedly remove the two heaviest stones from the queue and smash them together
  3. Calculate the new weight after smashing the stones and add it back to the queue if it's not zero
  4. Repeat the loop until at most one stone remains
  5. Return the weight of the last stone or 0 if no stones remain
Who Needs to Know This

Software engineers and developers can benefit from this problem to improve their problem-solving skills and learn how to use priority queues to solve complex problems

Key Insight

💡 Use a priority queue to efficiently remove and add stones during the smashing process

Share This
Solve the Last Stone Weight problem on LeetCode using a priority queue! 🚀

Key Takeaways

Learn to solve the Last Stone Weight problem on LeetCode by implementing a step-by-step solution using a priority queue

Full Article

Given an array of stone weights, repeatedly smash the two heaviest stones together until at most one stone remains, returning the weight of the last stone or 0 if no stones remain.
Read full article → ← Back to Reads

Related Videos

Stump Grinder Carbide Wheel Grinds Hardwood To Chips
Stump Grinder Carbide Wheel Grinds Hardwood To Chips
Innoforge Studio
The illusion of originality | Lyra Wells | TEDxLuxembourgCity
The illusion of originality | Lyra Wells | TEDxLuxembourgCity
TEDx Talks
Saylor Plans to sell $1.25B of Bitcoin. Good or Bad for BTC?
Saylor Plans to sell $1.25B of Bitcoin. Good or Bad for BTC?
VirtualBacon
Media Narratives: How Media Shapes Youth Mindset? | Panel Discussion | Fareed Ahmad
Media Narratives: How Media Shapes Youth Mindset? | Panel Discussion | Fareed Ahmad
Qasim Ali Shah Foundation
Git Rerere: The Secret Merge Feature
Git Rerere: The Secret Merge Feature
NeuralNine
The New Era of Sports Fandom: Inside NBA Top Shot with Matt Schorr
The New Era of Sports Fandom: Inside NBA Top Shot with Matt Schorr
Joseph Raczynski