LeetCode 1320 | Minimum Distance to Type a Word Using Two Fingers | Java | Hard | D P | CodeByTushu
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In today’s video, we solve LeetCode 1320 — Minimum Distance to Type a Word Using Two Fingers using Dynamic Programming in Java.
We are given a 6-column keyboard layout containing all uppercase English letters from A to Z, and we need to determine the minimum total Manhattan distance to type a given word using two fingers. Since the initial placement of both fingers is completely free and fingers do not have to start on the first letters, we observe an essential invariant: after typing each letter, one of the two fingers is always stationed at the most recently typed character. This allows us to reduce our dynamic programming state down to simply tracking the position of the second finger.
By iterating through the word character by character, we evaluate two straightforward transitions for each state: either the finger on the previous letter moves to type the current character, or the other finger moves to type it while the previous finger becomes the newly tracked finger. With only 27 possible states representing characters A through Z plus an unplaced free finger, we achieve an optimal O(27 * N) time complexity with O(1) auxiliary space.
🔥 Problem Highlights
✅ Reduce two-finger state to single-finger tracking via previous character invariant
✅ Manhattan distance calculation on a fixed 6-column virtual keyboard grid
✅ Constant 27-state dynamic programming transition per character
✅ Zero initial movement cost for unplaced fingers
✅ Space optimization using 1D state arrays
✅ O(N) time and O(1) auxiliary space complexity
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro & Daily Challenge Kickoff (Streak 98 Days)
01:53 Problem Understanding & Manhattan Grid Distance
03:45 Finger Position Invariant & State Compression
06:11 Space-Optimized 1D DP & Branch Transitions
08:01 Clean Java Solution Walkthrough Line by Line
09:28 Test Cases Dry Run & Benchmark Verification (2 ms, Beats 98.7%)
10:55 Time Complexity Analysis (O(N) Linear Time)
11:47 Space Complexity Analysis (O(1) Constant Space - 108 Bytes)
12:26 Day 12 Wrap-up & Channel Resources
📂 Problem Folder & Detailed Documentation:
https://github.com/CodeByTushu/CodeByTushu-LeetCode-Solutions/tree/main/solutions/April/12-April/1320-Minimum-Distance-to-Type-a-Word-Using-Two-Fingers
☕ Java Solution:
https://github.com/CodeByTushu/CodeByTushu-LeetCode-Solutions/blob/main/solutions/April/12-April/1320-Minimum-Distance-to-Type-a-Word-Using-Two-Fingers/Solution.java
🐍 Python Solution:
https://github.com/CodeByTushu/CodeByTushu-LeetCode-Solutions/blob/main/solutions/April/12-April/1320-Minimum-Distance-to-Type-a-Word-Using-Two-Fingers/solution.py
⚡ C++ Solution:
https://github.com/CodeByTushu/CodeByTushu-LeetCode-Solutions/blob/main/solutions/April/12-April/1320-Minimum-Distance-to-Type-a-Word-Using-Two-Fingers/solution.cpp
🌐 JavaScript Solution:
https://github.com/CodeByTushu/CodeByTushu-LeetCode-Solutions/blob/main/solutions/April/12-April/1320-Minimum-Distance-to-Type-a-Word-Using-Two-Fingers/solution.js
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💬 Question of the Day
Why does the dynamic programming state only need to track the position of ONE finger instead of both fingers simultaneously?
1️⃣ Because both fingers always move together to the same row
2️⃣ Because one finger is always guaranteed to be on the previous character typed
3️⃣ Because the second finger is only used once at the beginning
4️⃣ Because Manhattan distance does not depend on position
#LeetCode1320 #LeetCode #MinimumDistanceToTypeAWordUsingTwoFingers #Java #JavaDSA #DynamicProgramming #String #DSA #CodingInterview #ProblemSolving #LeetCodeHard #DailyLeetCode #JavaProgramming #CodeByTushu
👇 Comment the answer below! 🔥 Close description
In today’s video, we solve LeetCode 1320 — Minimum Distance to Type a Word Using Two Fingers using Dynamic Programming in Java.
We are given a 6-column keyboard layout containing all uppercase English letters from A to Z, and we need to determine the minimum total Manhattan distance to type a given word using two fingers. Since the initial placement of both fingers is completely free and fingers do not have to start on the first letters, we observe an essential invariant: after typing each letter, one of the two fingers is always stationed at the most recently typed character. This allows us to reduce our dynamic programming state down to simply tracking the position of the second finger.
By iterating through the word character by character, we evaluate two straightforward transitions for each state: either the finger on the previous letter moves to type the current character, or the other finger moves to type it while the previous finger becomes the newly tracked finger. With only 27 possible states representing characters A through Z plus an unplaced free finger, we achieve an optimal O(27 * N) time complexity with O(1) auxiliary space.
🔥 Problem Highlights
✅ Reduce two-finger state to single-finger tracking via previous character invariant
✅ Manhattan distance calculation on a fixed 6-column virtual keyboard grid
✅ Constant 27-state dynamic programming transition per character
✅ Zero initial movement cost for unplaced fingers
✅ Space optimization using 1D state arrays
✅ O(N) time and O(1) auxiliary space complexity
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro & Daily Challenge Kickoff (Streak 98 Days)
01:53 Problem Understanding & Manhattan Grid Distance
03:45 Finger Position Invariant & State Compression
06:11 Space-Optimized 1D DP & Branch Transitions
08:01 Clean Java Solution Walkthrough Line by Line
09:28 Test Cases Dry Run & Benchmark Verification (2 ms, Beats 98.7%)
10:55 Time Complexity Analysis (O(N) Linear Time)
11:47 Space Complexity Analysis (O(1) Constant Space - 108 Bytes)
12:26 Day 12 Wrap-up & Channel Resources
📂 Problem Folder & Detailed Documentation:
https://github.com/CodeByTushu/CodeByTushu-LeetCode-Solutions/tree/main/solutions/April/12-April/1320-Minimum-Distance-to-Type-a-Word-Using-Two-Fingers
☕ Java Solution:
https://github.com/CodeByTushu/CodeByTushu-LeetCode-Solutions/blob/main/solutions/April/12-April/1320-Minimum-Distance-to-Type-a-Word-Using-Two-Fingers/Solution.java
🐍 Python Solution:
https://github.com/CodeByTushu/CodeByTushu-LeetCode-Solutions/blob/main/solutions/April/12-April/1320-Minimum-Distance-to-Type-a-Word-Using-Two-Fingers/solution.py
⚡ C++ Solution:
https://github.com/CodeByTushu/CodeByTushu-LeetCode-Solutions/blob/main/solutions/April/12-April/1320-Minimum-Distance-to-Type-a-Word-Using-Two-Fingers/solution.cpp
🌐 JavaScript Solution:
https://github.com/CodeByTushu/CodeByTushu-LeetCode-Solutions/blob/main/solutions/April/12-April/1320-Minimum-Distance-to-Type-a-Word-Using-Two-Fingers/solution.js
🔗 LeetCode Source Code
📌 Admin type the link
🌐 All LeetCode Solutions
📌 https://codebytushu.com/Leetcode/
📱 Join CodeByTushu on WhatsApp
Get coding updates, LeetCode solutions, daily questions and more.
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vb8k5mCDeON2Xwlkxe40
❤️ Donate
📌 https://codebytushu.com/Leetcode/donate.php
🔥 Perfect For
LeetCode Hard Problems
Java DSA Preparation
Dynamic Programming
Space Optimization
Keyboard Simulation
Time Complexity Optimization
Coding Interview Preparation
Problem Solving
🌐 Follow CodeByTushu
▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@codebytushu
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/codebytushu/
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/codebytushu/
🌍 Website: https://codebytushu.com
🐙 GitHub: https://github.com/CodeByTushu
❤️ Don’t Forget To
👍 Like | 💬 Comment | 🔔 Subscribe
💬 Question of the Day
Why does the dynamic programming state only need to track the position of ONE finger instead of both fingers simultaneously?
1️⃣ Because both fingers always move together to the same row
2️⃣ Because one finger is always guaranteed to be on the previous character typed
3️⃣ Because the second finger is only used once at the beginning
4️⃣ Because Manhattan distance does not depend on position
#LeetCode1320 #LeetCode #MinimumDistanceToTypeAWordUsingTwoFingers #Java #JavaDSA #DynamicProgramming #String #DSA #CodingInterview #ProblemSolving #LeetCodeHard #DailyLeetCode #JavaProgramming #CodeByTushu
👇 Comment the answer below! 🔥 Close description