Last Stone Weight

Heap · Repeatedly take the most important item · Easy · about 18 min

Why it matters

Heaps are for a changing “best next item” without sorting everything again.

How it connects

A queue processes the oldest item first. A heap processes the largest priority first.

Try first

What would be expensive if you sorted all stones again after every smash?

Interview cue

A heap makes each remove/add O(log n), avoiding repeated full sorts.