two pointers vs sliding window

Topics

• two pointers technique
• sliding window

Two Pointers:

• Focuses on meeting conditions or comparing values at two specific positions in an iterable
• The elements between the pointers are not directly considered
• Useful for finding pairs or comparing elements
• Variations include slow and fast pointers

Sliding Window:

• Analyzes subarrays (windows) within an iterable
• Considers each element within the window
• Used for problems requiring examination of a continuous range of elements
• Shift the window across the iterable (window size may or may not change)
  • sliding window with variable window size
  • sliding window with fixed window size

Key Differences:

• Two Pointers: Focus on conditions met by the elements at the pointer positions
• Sliding Window: Focus on all elements within the window

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