Maximize sum of at most k distinct elements

Array Hash Table Greedy Sorting

76.6% acceptance

Feb 25, 2026

You are given a positive integer array nums and an integer k. Choose at most k elements from nums so that their sum is maximized. However, the chosen numbers must be distinct. Return an array containing the chosen numbers in strictly descending order.

Solution

Rust

Time O(n log n)

Space O(1)

LeetCode

solution.rs

impl Solution {
  pub fn max_k_distinct(nums: Vec<i32>, k: i32) -> Vec<i32> {
    use std::collections::BTreeSet;
    let unique: BTreeSet<i32> = nums.into_iter().collect();
    let result: Vec<i32> = unique.into_iter().rev().take(k as usize).collect();
    result
  }
}