The Skyline Problem | Set 2

Given n rectangular buildings in a 2-dimensional city, computes the skyline of these buildings, eliminating hidden lines. The main task is to view buildings from aside and remove all sections that are not visible. 

All buildings share common bottom and every building is represented by a triplet (left, ht, right) 

• left: is x coordinated on the left side (or wall).
• right: is x coordinate of the right side.
• ht: is the height of the building.

A skyline is a collection of rectangular strips. A rectangular strip is represented as a pair (left, ht) where left is x coordinate of the left side of strip and ht is the height of strip.

Examples:

Input: buildings[][] = { {1, 11, 5}, {2, 6, 7}, {3, 13, 9}, {12, 7, 16}, {14, 3, 25}, {19, 18, 22}, {23, 13, 29}, {24, 4, 28} }
Output: { {1, 11}, {3, 13}, {9, 0}, {12, 7}, {16, 3}, {19, 18}, {22, 3}, {23, 13}, {29, 0} }
Explanation:
The skyline is formed based on the key-points (representing by “green” dots) 
eliminating hidden walls of the buildings.

Input: buildings[ ][ ] = { {1, 11, 5} }
Output: { {1, 11}, {5, 0} }

Approach:

1. From the given triplets for each building, retrieve the left wall location, height and right wall location value.
2. Store the left wall with its negative value of height and the right wall with its actual height as a pair in a vector walls. This is done in order to distinguish between left and right walls of the same building.
3. Sort the walls in ascending order.
4. Traverse the vector walls, if a left wall is found, store the height of the left wall in the multiset M. Otherwise, if a right wall is encountered, remove its corresponding height from the multiset.
5. Check if the top value has changed or not. If it has changed, then update the top value and store the current wall’s abscissa(x-coordinate) value and the updated top value in a vector as skyline.
6. Print the value pairs stored in the skyline vector.

Below is the implementation of 

the above approach: 

C++

// C++ program for the above approach
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;

// Function to create skyline
vector<pair<int, int> >
createSkyline(vector<vector<int> >& buildings)
{

    // Get the number of buildings
    int N = buildings.size();

    // To store the left and right
    // wall position of the buildings
    vector<pair<int, int> > wall;

    // Triplet of building structure
    // parameters
    int left, height, right;
    for (int i = 0; i < N; i++) {

        // Get left point of building
        left = buildings[i][0];

        // Get height of building
        height = buildings[i][1];

        // Get right point of building
        right = buildings[i][2];

        // Store left point and height
        // of the left wall

        // Negative value means left wall
        // will be inserted to multiset first
        // for the same abscissa(x) as right wall
        wall.push_back({ left, -height });

        // Store right point and height
        // of the right wall
        wall.push_back(
            make_pair(right, height));
    }

    // Sort the walls in ascending order
    sort(wall.begin(), wall.end());

    // To store skyline: output
    vector<pair<int, int> > skyline;

    // Initialize a multiset to
    // keep left wall heights sorted
    multiset<int> leftWallHeight = { 0 };

    // Current max height among
    // leftWallHeights
    int top = 0;

    // Traverse through the sorted walls
    for (auto w : wall) {

        // If left wall is found
        if (w.second < 0) {

            // Insert the height
            leftWallHeight.insert(-w.second);
        }

        // If right wall is found
        else {

            // Remove the height
            leftWallHeight.erase(
                leftWallHeight.find(w.second));
        }

        // Mark a skyline point if top changes
        // .rbegin(): reverse iterator
        if (*leftWallHeight.rbegin() != top) {

            top = *leftWallHeight.rbegin();
            skyline.push_back(
                make_pair(w.first, top));
        }
    }

    // Return skyline to printSkyline
    return skyline;
}

// Function to print the output skyline
void printSkyline(
    vector<vector<int> >& buildings)
{

    // Function call for creating skyline
    vector<pair<int, int> > skyline
        = createSkyline(buildings);

    cout << "Skyline for given"
         << " buildings:\n{";

    for (auto it : skyline) {

        cout << "{" << it.first << ", "
             << it.second << "} ";
    }
    cout << "}";
}

// Driver Code
int main()
{
    vector<vector<int> > buildings;

    // Given left and right location
    // and height of the wall
    buildings = { { 1, 11, 5 }, { 2, 6, 7 },
                  { 3, 13, 9 }, { 12, 7, 16 },
                  { 14, 3, 25 }, { 19, 18, 22 },
                  { 23, 13, 29 }, { 24, 4, 28 } };

    // Function Call
    printSkyline(buildings);
    return 0;
}

Java

import java.util.*;

public class Skyline {

    public static List<int[]> createSkyline(int[][] buildings) {
        List<int[]> wall = new ArrayList<>();
        int N = buildings.length;
        int left, height, right;
        for (int i = 0; i < N; i++) {
            left = buildings[i][0];
            height = buildings[i][1];
            right = buildings[i][2];
            wall.add(new int[]{left, -height});
            wall.add(new int[]{right, height});
        }
        wall.sort((a, b) -> a[0] != b[0] ? a[0] - b[0] : a[1] - b[1]);
        List<int[]> skyline = new ArrayList<>();
        TreeSet<Integer> leftWallHeight = new TreeSet<>(Collections.singleton(0));
        int top = 0;
        for (int[] w : wall) {
            if (w[1] < 0) {
                leftWallHeight.add(-w[1]);
            } else {
                leftWallHeight.remove(w[1]);
            }
            int curTop = leftWallHeight.last();
            if (curTop != top) {
                top = curTop;
                skyline.add(new int[]{w[0], top});
            }
        }
        return skyline;
    }

    public static void printSkyline(int[][] buildings) {
        List<int[]> skyline = createSkyline(buildings);
        System.out.println("Skyline for given buildings:");
        System.out.print("{");
        for (int[] it : skyline) {
            System.out.print("{" + it[0] + ", " + it[1] + "} ");
        }
        System.out.println("}");
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int[][] buildings = {{1, 11, 5}, {2, 6, 7}, {3, 13, 9}, {12, 7, 16},
                {14, 3, 25}, {19, 18, 22}, {23, 13, 29}, {24, 4, 28}};
        printSkyline(buildings);
    }
}

Python3

# pyton equivalent code
from functools import cmp_to_key

def func(a, b):
    if(a[0] != b[0]):
        return a[0] - b[0]
    else:
        return a[1] - b[1]

def createSkyline(buildings):

    wall = []
    N = len(buildings)
    left = 0
    height = 0
    right = 0
    for i in range(N):
        left = buildings[i][0]
        height = buildings[i][1]
        right = buildings[i][2]
        wall.append([left, -height])
        wall.append([right, height])

    letter_cmp_key = cmp_to_key(func)
    wall.sort(key = letter_cmp_key)
    # wall.sort(func)

    skyline = []
    leftWallHeight = set()
    leftWallHeight.add(0)

    top = 0
    for w in wall:
        if w[1] < 0:
            leftWallHeight.add(-w[1])
        else:
            leftWallHeight.remove(w[1])

        curTop = max(leftWallHeight)
        if curTop != top:
            top = curTop;
            skyline.append([w[0], top])

    return skyline

def printSkyline(buildings):

    skyline = createSkyline(buildings)
    print('Skyline for given buildings:')
    temp = '{'

    for it in skyline:
        temp = temp + "{" + str(it[0]) + "," + str(it[1]) + "} "

    print(temp + '}')


buildings = [[1, 11, 5], [2, 6, 7], [3, 13, 9], [12, 7, 16],
[14, 3, 25], [19, 18, 22], [23, 13, 29], [24, 4, 28]]

printSkyline(buildings)

# The code is contributed by Nidhi goel.

Javascript

// Javascript equivalent code

const createSkyline = (buildings) => {
    let wall = [];
    let N = buildings.length;
    let left, height, right;
    for (let i = 0; i < N; i++) {
        left = buildings[i][0];
        height = buildings[i][1];
        right = buildings[i][2];
        wall.push([left, -height]);
        wall.push([right, height]);
    }
    wall.sort((a, b) => {
        if (a[0] !== b[0]) {
            return a[0] - b[0];
        } else {
            return a[1] - b[1];
        }
    });
    let skyline = [];
    let leftWallHeight = new Set([0]);
    let top = 0;
    for (let w of wall) {
        if (w[1] < 0) {
            leftWallHeight.add(-w[1]);
        } else {
            leftWallHeight.delete(w[1]);
        }
        let curTop = Math.max(...leftWallHeight);
        if (curTop !== top) {
            top = curTop;
            skyline.push([w[0], top]);
        }
    }
    return skyline;
}

const printSkyline = (buildings) => {
    let skyline = createSkyline(buildings);
    console.log('Skyline for given buildings:');
    temp = '{';
    for (let it of skyline) {
       temp = temp +`{${it[0]}, ${it[1]}} `;
    }
    console.log(temp + '}');
}

let buildings = [[1, 11, 5], [2, 6, 7], [3, 13, 9], [12, 7, 16],
[14, 3, 25], [19, 18, 22], [23, 13, 29], [24, 4, 28]];

printSkyline(buildings);

C#

// C# program for the above approach
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;

class Program
{
    static int func(int[] a, int[] b)
    {
        if (a[0] != b[0])
        {
            return a[0] - b[0];
        }
        else
        {
            return a[1] - b[1];
        }
    }

    static List<int[]> createSkyline(List<int[]> buildings)
    {
        List<int[]> wall = new List<int[]>();
        int N = buildings.Count;
        int left = 0;
        int height = 0;
        int right = 0;
        for (int i = 0; i < N; i++)
        {
            left = buildings[i][0];
            height = buildings[i][1];
            right = buildings[i][2];
            wall.Add(new int[] { left, -height });
            wall.Add(new int[] { right, height });
        }

        Comparison<int[]> letter_cmp_key = new Comparison<int[]>(func);
        wall.Sort(letter_cmp_key);

        List<int[]> skyline = new List<int[]>();
        SortedSet<int> leftWallHeight = new SortedSet<int>();
        leftWallHeight.Add(0);

        int top = 0;
        foreach (int[] w in wall)
        {
            if (w[1] < 0)
            {
                leftWallHeight.Add(-w[1]);
            }
            else
            {
                leftWallHeight.Remove(w[1]);
            }

            int curTop = leftWallHeight.Max;
            if (curTop != top)
            {
                top = curTop;
                skyline.Add(new int[] { w[0], top });
            }
        }

        return skyline;
    }

    static void printSkyline(List<int[]> buildings)
    {
        List<int[]> skyline = createSkyline(buildings);
        Console.WriteLine("Skyline for given buildings:");
        string temp = "{";

        foreach (int[] it in skyline)
        {
            temp = temp + "{" + it[0] + "," + it[1] + "} ";
        }

        Console.WriteLine(temp + "}");
    }

    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        List<int[]> buildings = new List<int[]> {
            new int[] {1, 11, 5},
            new int[] {2, 6, 7},
            new int[] {3, 13, 9},
            new int[] {12, 7, 16},
            new int[] {14, 3, 25},
            new int[] {19, 18, 22},
            new int[] {23, 13, 29},
            new int[] {24, 4, 28}
        };

        printSkyline(buildings);


    }
}
// The code is contributed by shivamsharma215.

Output

Skyline for given buildings:
{{1, 11} {3, 13} {9, 0} {12, 7} {16, 3} {19, 18} {22, 3} {23, 13} {29, 0} }

Another Approach:

Python3

import heapq
def getSkyline(buildings):
      # Stores the building information in the following manner:[left,right,height]
    buildings=list(map(lambda x: [x[0],x[2],x[1]],buildings))

    buildings_start=[0] # priority queue
    buildings_end=dict() #map

    # Stores the position and height of the present building and whether it is the endpoint of a building
    new_buildings=[]
    for s,e,h in buildings:
        new_buildings.append((s,h,False))
        new_buildings.append((e,h,True))

    # Sorting the buildings according to their position
    new_buildings.sort(key= lambda x:(x[0],x[2]))

    # Stores the answer
    skyline=[]
    for x,y,end in new_buildings:
        if not end:
        # if it is the starting point of a building push it in the heap
            if (not skyline) or y>skyline[-1][1]:
                if skyline and x==skyline[-1][0]:
                    skyline[-1][1]=y
                else:
                    skyline.append([x,y])
                heapq.heappush(buildings_start,-y)
            else:
                heapq.heappush(buildings_start,-y)
        else:
        # if it is the ending point of a building
            if y==skyline[-1][1]:
                heapq.heappop(buildings_start)
                if x==skyline[-1][0]:
                    skyline.pop()
                y=heapq.heappop(buildings_start)
                while -y in buildings_end:
                    buildings_end[-y]-=1
                    if buildings_end[-y]==0:
                        del(buildings_end[-y])
                    y=heapq.heappop(buildings_start)
                if -y!=skyline[-1][1]:
                    skyline.append([x,-y])
                heapq.heappush(buildings_start,y)
            else:
                buildings_end[y]=buildings_end.get(y,0)+1
    return skyline

if __name__ == '__main__':
    buildings = [ [ 1, 11, 5 ], [ 2, 6, 7 ],
                  [ 3, 13, 9 ], [ 12, 7, 16 ],
                  [ 14, 3, 25 ], [ 19, 18, 22 ],
                  [ 23, 13, 29 ], [ 24, 4, 28 ] ]
    print(getSkyline(buildings))

Output

[[1, 11], [3, 13], [9, 0], [12, 7], [16, 3], [19, 18], [22, 3], [23, 13], [29, 0]]

Time Complexity: O(N * log(N))
Auxiliary Space: O(N)