HackerRank - Left Rotation in JavaScript

Question

I'm looking to learn more about data structures, time complexity, and efficient algorithms. I have solved the Left Rotation Problem on HackerRank using JavaScript. I am looking to see ways to optimize the time complexity. I feel like I have a lot to learn, as don't grok Big O.

function main() {
    const nd = readLine().split(' ')
    const numbers = parseInt(nd[0], 10)
    const rotations = parseInt(nd[1], 10)
    const arr = readLine().split(' ').map(aTemp => parseInt(aTemp, 10))
    const front = arr.slice(0, rotations)
    const back = arr.slice(rotations, numbers)
    const new_arr = back.concat(front)
    console.log(new_arr.join(' '))
}

I feel like this likely has bad time complexity, as under the hood, I believe the slice function uses a loop and has a time complexity of \$O(n)\$. In addition, I'm unsure of how JavaScript implements the merge from the concat method under the hood.

Answer 1

Review

• Since you are building the array yourself, as opposed to you get a source array from a consumer of your method, I don't think you should create a new array, but rather just adapt the source array. This way, you could avoid slice and concat altogether.
• The number of rotations is an integer. However, reading the description behind the link tells use it's clamped between 1 <= rotations <= nd. There is a slight optimization here. If rotations = nd you don't have to do anything, since a rotation is circular. An elegant way to check this is to normalize rotations as rotations = rotations % nd; assuming you have already checked rotations againsts the clamped range. if rotations = 0, don't rotate.
• There's another optimization if nd < 2, then any rotation is the source itself.