Codey and Number Grid

https://www.hackerrank.com/contests/codenection-2023-preliminary-round-open-category/challenges/cn-c17

Question

Codey finds itself in a desolate planet. The planet, shrouded in mystery, is known for its harsh, alien terrain — a place where every decision is a matter of survival. Here, in this strange land, Codey discovers a $m * n$ ( n rows and m columns) grid imprinted with unique numbers that seem to hold the keys to life itself.

Trapped on this planet, Codey faces a huge challenge. Its very survival depends on its ability to decipher this grid. It must uncover k, the maximum connected area within the grid that contains every number from 1 to k. Two cells can only be connected if they share an edge.

As time runs out and the situation becomes more dangerous, Codey needs your help to find k, the largest possible connected area k that meets the condition. Can you assist Codey in determining the value of k to survive this challenge?

Input Format

The first line contains two integers, n and m, where n represents the number of rows and m represents the columns in the 2D grid.

The following lines contain the numbers $a_{ij}$ , which provides a representation of the 2D grid.

Constraints

$$1 \le n \le 10^3$$

$$1 \le m \le 10^3$$

$$1 \le a_{ij} \le 10^6$$

• Every $a_{ij}$ is guaranteed unique.

Output Format

Output k, the maximum connected area within the grid that contains every number from 1 to k.

Sample Inputs:

Input 0

Input

3 3
1 2 7
9 3 11
8 4 5

Output

5

Explanation

The representation of the grid and the highlighted maximum area is as follows:

The selected area only consists of number from 1 to 5, hence the output is 5.

Input 1

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Solution - BFS

This is a typical breadth-first search question.

Step 1: find the coordinates of 1.

Step 2: find the 2, then rinse and repeat.

Then I haven't finish yet lmao.