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#765
Hard Algorithms

Couples holding hands

Greedy Depth-First Search Breadth-First Search Union-Find Graph Theory
59.2% acceptance
Feb 21, 2026
2477
131
There are n couples sitting in 2n seats arranged in a row and want to hold hands. The people and seats are represented by an integer array row where row[i] is the ID of the person sitting in the ith seat. The couples are numbered in order, the first couple being (0, 1), the second couple being (2, 3), and so on with the last couple being (2n - 2, 2n - 1). Return the minimum number of swaps so that every couple is sitting side by side. A swap consists of choosing any two people, then they stand up and switch seats.

Solution

Rust
Time O(2^n)
Space O(n)
LeetCode
solution.rs
/*
 * There are n couples sitting in 2n seats arranged in a row and want to hold hands.
 * The people and seats are represented by an integer array row where row[i] is the ID of the person sitting in the ith seat. The couples are numbered in order, the first couple being (0, 1), the second couple being (2, 3), and so on with the last couple being (2n - 2, 2n - 1).
 * Return the minimum number of swaps so that every couple is sitting side by side. A swap consists of choosing any two people, then they stand up and switch seats.
 * Example 1:
 * Input: row = [0,2,1,3]
 * Output: 1
 * Explanation: We only need to swap the second (row[1]) and third (row[2]) person.
 * Example 2:
 * Input: row = [3,2,0,1]
 * Output: 0
 * Explanation: All couples are already seated side by side.
 * Constraints:
 * 2n == row.length
 * 2 <= n <= 30ÔÇïÔÇïÔÇïÔÇïÔÇïÔÇïÔÇï
 * 0 <= row[i] < 2n
 * All the elements of row are unique.
 */
impl Solution {
  pub fn min_swaps_couples(row: Vec<i32>) -> i32 {
    let n = row.len() / 2;
    let mut parent: Vec<usize> = (0..n).collect();

    fn find(parent: &mut Vec<usize>, x: usize) -> usize {
      if parent[x] != x { parent[x] = find(parent, parent[x]); }
      parent[x]
    }

    for i in 0..n {
      let a = (row[2 * i] / 2) as usize;
      let b = (row[2 * i + 1] / 2) as usize;
      let pa = find(&mut parent, a);
      let pb = find(&mut parent, b);
      if pa != pb { parent[pa] = pb; }
    }

    let components = (0..n).filter(|&i| find(&mut parent, i) == i).count();
    (n - components) as i32
  }
}