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7. Plus One

easyAsked at Slack

Add one to a non-negative integer represented as a digit array.

By Alex Chen, Founder, InterviewChamp.AI · Last verified

Problem

You are given a large integer represented as an array of digits, most significant digit first. Increment the integer by one and return the resulting array of digits.

Constraints

  • 1 <= digits.length <= 100
  • 0 <= digits[i] <= 9
  • No leading zeros

Examples

Example 1

Input
digits = [1,2,3]
Output
[1,2,4]

Example 2

Input
digits = [9,9]
Output
[1,0,0]

Approaches

1. BigInt math

Join digits, BigInt add 1, split.

Time
O(n)
Space
O(n)
const n = BigInt(digits.join('')) + 1n;
return n.toString().split('').map(Number);

Tradeoff:

2. Carry propagation

Walk from end, add carry, stop when no overflow. Prepend 1 if all digits overflowed.

Time
O(n)
Space
O(1)
function plusOne(digits) {
  for (let i = digits.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
    if (digits[i] < 9) { digits[i]++; return digits; }
    digits[i] = 0;
  }
  return [1, ...digits];
}

Tradeoff:

Slack-specific tips

Slack interviewers may push you to avoid BigInt allocation — they grade for tight inner loops in their iOS/Android clients.

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Output

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