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#3818
Medium Algorithms

Minimum prefix removal to make array strictly increasing

Array
73.7% acceptance
Mar 16, 2026
54
6
Remove exactly one prefix (possibly empty) from nums. Return min length of removed prefix such that remaining array is strictly increasing.

Solution

Rust
Time O(n)
Space O(1)
LeetCode
solution.rs
impl Solution {
  pub fn minimum_prefix_length(nums: Vec<i32>) -> i32 {
    let n = nums.len();
    // Find longest strictly increasing suffix
    let mut start = n - 1;
    while start > 0 && nums[start - 1] < nums[start] {
      start -= 1;
    }
    start as i32
  }
}