LeetCode #1467 — HARD

Probability of a Two Boxes Having The Same Number of Distinct Balls

Break down a hard problem into reliable checkpoints, edge-case handling, and complexity trade-offs.

Solve on LeetCode
The Problem

Problem Statement

Given 2n balls of k distinct colors. You will be given an integer array balls of size k where balls[i] is the number of balls of color i.

All the balls will be shuffled uniformly at random, then we will distribute the first n balls to the first box and the remaining n balls to the other box (Please read the explanation of the second example carefully).

Please note that the two boxes are considered different. For example, if we have two balls of colors a and b, and two boxes [] and (), then the distribution [a] (b) is considered different than the distribution [b] (a) (Please read the explanation of the first example carefully).

Return the probability that the two boxes have the same number of distinct balls. Answers within 10-5 of the actual value will be accepted as correct.

Example 1:

Input: balls = [1,1]
Output: 1.00000
Explanation: Only 2 ways to divide the balls equally:
- A ball of color 1 to box 1 and a ball of color 2 to box 2
- A ball of color 2 to box 1 and a ball of color 1 to box 2
In both ways, the number of distinct colors in each box is equal. The probability is 2/2 = 1

Example 2:

Input: balls = [2,1,1]
Output: 0.66667
Explanation: We have the set of balls [1, 1, 2, 3]
This set of balls will be shuffled randomly and we may have one of the 12 distinct shuffles with equal probability (i.e. 1/12):
[1,1 / 2,3], [1,1 / 3,2], [1,2 / 1,3], [1,2 / 3,1], [1,3 / 1,2], [1,3 / 2,1], [2,1 / 1,3], [2,1 / 3,1], [2,3 / 1,1], [3,1 / 1,2], [3,1 / 2,1], [3,2 / 1,1]
After that, we add the first two balls to the first box and the second two balls to the second box.
We can see that 8 of these 12 possible random distributions have the same number of distinct colors of balls in each box.
Probability is 8/12 = 0.66667

Example 3:

Input: balls = [1,2,1,2]
Output: 0.60000
Explanation: The set of balls is [1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4]. It is hard to display all the 180 possible random shuffles of this set but it is easy to check that 108 of them will have the same number of distinct colors in each box.
Probability = 108 / 180 = 0.6

Constraints:

  • 1 <= balls.length <= 8
  • 1 <= balls[i] <= 6
  • sum(balls) is even.
Patterns Used

Roadmap

  1. Brute Force Baseline
  2. Core Insight
  3. Algorithm Walkthrough
  4. Edge Cases
  5. Full Annotated Code
  6. Interactive Study Demo
  7. Complexity Analysis
Step 01

Brute Force Baseline

Problem summary: Given 2n balls of k distinct colors. You will be given an integer array balls of size k where balls[i] is the number of balls of color i. All the balls will be shuffled uniformly at random, then we will distribute the first n balls to the first box and the remaining n balls to the other box (Please read the explanation of the second example carefully). Please note that the two boxes are considered different. For example, if we have two balls of colors a and b, and two boxes [] and (), then the distribution [a] (b) is considered different than the distribution [b] (a) (Please read the explanation of the first example carefully). Return the probability that the two boxes have the same number of distinct balls. Answers within 10-5 of the actual value will be accepted as correct.

Baseline thinking

Start with the most direct exhaustive search. That gives a correctness anchor before optimizing.

Pattern signal: Array · Math · Dynamic Programming · Backtracking

Example 1

[1,1]

Example 2

[2,1,1]

Example 3

[1,2,1,2]
Step 02

Core Insight

What unlocks the optimal approach

  • Check how many ways you can distribute the balls between the boxes.
  • Consider that one way you will use (x1, x2, x3, ..., xk) where xi is the number of balls from colour i. The probability of achieving this way randomly is ( (ball1 C x1) * (ball2 C x2) * (ball3 C x3) * ... * (ballk C xk)) / (2n C n).
  • The probability of a draw is the sigma of probabilities of different ways to achieve draw.
  • Can you use Dynamic programming to solve this problem in a better complexity ?
Interview move: turn each hint into an invariant you can check after every iteration/recursion step.
Step 03

Algorithm Walkthrough

Iteration Checklist

  1. Define state (indices, window, stack, map, DP cell, or recursion frame).
  2. Apply one transition step and update the invariant.
  3. Record answer candidate when condition is met.
  4. Continue until all input is consumed.
Use the first example testcase as your mental trace to verify each transition.
Step 04

Edge Cases

Minimum Input
Single element / shortest valid input
Validate boundary behavior before entering the main loop or recursion.
Duplicates & Repeats
Repeated values / repeated states
Decide whether duplicates should be merged, skipped, or counted explicitly.
Extreme Constraints
Largest constraint values
Re-check complexity target against constraints to avoid time-limit issues.
Invalid / Corner Shape
Empty collections, zeros, or disconnected structures
Handle special-case structure before the core algorithm path.
Step 05

Full Annotated Code

Source-backed implementations are provided below for direct study and interview prep.

// Accepted solution for LeetCode #1467: Probability of a Two Boxes Having The Same Number of Distinct Balls
class Solution {
    private int n;
    private long[][] c;
    private int[] balls;
    private Map<List<Integer>, Long> f = new HashMap<>();

    public double getProbability(int[] balls) {
        int mx = 0;
        for (int x : balls) {
            n += x;
            mx = Math.max(mx, x);
        }
        n >>= 1;
        this.balls = balls;
        int m = Math.max(mx, n << 1);
        c = new long[m + 1][m + 1];
        for (int i = 0; i <= m; ++i) {
            c[i][0] = 1;
            for (int j = 1; j <= i; ++j) {
                c[i][j] = c[i - 1][j - 1] + c[i - 1][j];
            }
        }
        return dfs(0, n, 0) * 1.0 / c[n << 1][n];
    }

    private long dfs(int i, int j, int diff) {
        if (i >= balls.length) {
            return j == 0 && diff == 0 ? 1 : 0;
        }
        if (j < 0) {
            return 0;
        }
        List<Integer> key = List.of(i, j, diff);
        if (f.containsKey(key)) {
            return f.get(key);
        }
        long ans = 0;
        for (int x = 0; x <= balls[i]; ++x) {
            int y = x == balls[i] ? 1 : (x == 0 ? -1 : 0);
            ans += dfs(i + 1, j - x, diff + y) * c[balls[i]][x];
        }
        f.put(key, ans);
        return ans;
    }
}
Step 06

Interactive Study Demo

Use this to step through a reusable interview workflow for this problem.

Press Step or Run All to begin.
Step 07

Complexity Analysis

Time
O(n × m)
Space
O(n × m)

Approach Breakdown

RECURSIVE
O(2ⁿ) time
O(n) space

Pure recursion explores every possible choice at each step. With two choices per state (take or skip), the decision tree has 2ⁿ leaves. The recursion stack uses O(n) space. Many subproblems are recomputed exponentially many times.

DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING
O(n × m) time
O(n × m) space

Each cell in the DP table is computed exactly once from previously solved subproblems. The table dimensions determine both time and space. Look for the state variables — each unique combination of state values is one cell. Often a rolling array can reduce space by one dimension.

Shortcut: Count your DP state dimensions → that’s your time. Can you drop one? That’s your space optimization.
Coach Notes

Common Mistakes

Review these before coding to avoid predictable interview regressions.

Off-by-one on range boundaries

Wrong move: Loop endpoints miss first/last candidate.

Usually fails on: Fails on minimal arrays and exact-boundary answers.

Fix: Re-derive loops from inclusive/exclusive ranges before coding.

Overflow in intermediate arithmetic

Wrong move: Temporary multiplications exceed integer bounds.

Usually fails on: Large inputs wrap around unexpectedly.

Fix: Use wider types, modular arithmetic, or rearranged operations.

State misses one required dimension

Wrong move: An incomplete state merges distinct subproblems and caches incorrect answers.

Usually fails on: Correctness breaks on cases that differ only in hidden state.

Fix: Define state so each unique subproblem maps to one DP cell.

Missing undo step on backtrack

Wrong move: Mutable state leaks between branches.

Usually fails on: Later branches inherit selections from earlier branches.

Fix: Always revert state changes immediately after recursive call.