Minimum difference between largest and smallest value in three moves

Array Greedy Sorting

59.2% acceptance

Feb 25, 2026

2546

286

You are given an integer array nums. In one move, you can choose one element of nums and change it to any value. Return the minimum difference between the largest and smallest value of nums after performing at most three moves.

Solution

Rust

Time O(n log n)

Space O(1)

LeetCode

solution.rs

impl Solution {
  pub fn min_difference(mut nums: Vec<i32>) -> i32 {
    let n = nums.len();
    if n <= 4 { return 0; }
    nums.sort();
    // Try removing i from left and (3-i) from right
    (0..=3).map(|i| nums[n - 1 - (3 - i)] - nums[i]).min().unwrap()
  }
}