The challenge
Given two arrays, write a function to compute their intersection.
Example 1:
Input: nums1 = [1,2,2,1], nums2 = [2,2] Output: [2,2]
Example 2:
Input: nums1 = [4,9,5], nums2 = [9,4,9,8,4] Output: [4,9]
Note:
- Each element in the result should appear as many times as it shows in both arrays.
- The result can be in any order.
This is a common array manipulation problem that’s similar to other Python challenges like counting smiley faces or getting the next biggest number with the same digits .
The solution in Python code
def intersect(self, nums1: List[int], nums2: List[int]) -> List[int]:
# create an `answer` list
answer = []
# loop through the first list
for i in nums1:
# check if the item is in the next list
if i in nums2:
# remove from the nums2 list
nums2.remove(i)
# add the answer to the `answer` list
answer.append(i)
# return our `answer` list
return answer
