🧑‍💻 LeetCode 0268 — Missing Number, A Deep Dive into Efficient Solutions with Java 🔥

LeetCode problem 268 Missing Number, is a classic problem that tests your ability to solve array-related challenges efficiently. The problem is simple to state:

Given an array nums containing n distinct numbers in the range [0, n], return the number that is missing from the range.

In this blog, we’ll explore multiple solutions to this problem with Java code examples and detailed explanations of their time and space complexities. We’ll place special emphasis on the bit manipulation solution for its elegance and efficiency.

🤔 Problem Statement

Level 🔥 Easy

Given nums is an array of size n, with elements ranging from 0 to n, missing exactly one number. Output: The missing number in the range [0, n].

💡 Solution

✍ Approach 1: Sum Formula

The sum of numbers from 0 to n is given by the formula:

The missing number can be derived by subtracting the actual sum of elements in nums from this expected sum.

public int missingNumber(int[] nums) {
    int n = nums.length;
    int expectedSum = n * (n + 1) / 2;
    int actualSum = 0…