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LeetCode 710, Hard. Topics: Array, Hash Table, Math, Binary Search, Sorting, Randomized. View on LeetCode. Generate this problem as a practice environment: tested reference solution, 16 parametrized pytest cases, and a playground notebook:

Problem

You are given an integer n and an array of unique integers blacklist. Design an algorithm to pick a random integer in the range [0, n - 1] that is not in blacklist. Any integer that is in the mentioned range and not in blacklist should be equally likely to be returned. Optimize your algorithm such that it minimizes the number of calls to the built-in random function of your language. Implement the Solution class:
  • Solution(int n, int[] blacklist) Initializes the object with the integer n and the blacklisted integers blacklist.
  • int pick() Returns a random integer in the range [0, n - 1] and not in blacklist.

Examples

Constraints

  • 1 <= n <= 10^9
  • 0 <= blacklist.length <= min(10^5, n - 1)
  • 0 <= blacklist[i] < n
  • All the values of blacklist are unique.
  • At most 2 * 10^4 calls will be made to pick.

Solution

Reference implementation from solution.py on GitHub, full suite in test_solution.py:

Complexity

Tags

Last modified on September 7, 2026