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When should a Java developer choose Top-K with a Heap deliberately?

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Choose Top-K with a Heap mainly when you want to postpone validation and fix problems manually later.Choose Top-K with a Heap only to avoid modeling domain rules explicitly in Java code.Use a min-heap of size k to track the largest k elements, or a max-heap of size k to track the smallest k elements.Choose Top-K with a Heap whenever you want the code to look more advanced, even if the design gets less clear.

Answer and explanation

Correct answer

C. Use a min-heap of size k to track the largest k elements, or a max-heap of size k to track the smallest k elements.

Why

Use a min-heap of size k to track the largest k elements, or a max-heap of size k to track the smallest k elements. Interviewers often ask this to see whether you can connect the concept to real design decisions.

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When should a Java developer choose Top-K with a Heap deliberately?

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