Get App

Java: Which practice avoids a common mistake with Top-K with a Heap?

Difficulty:

Medium

Questions:

1

Time Limit:

2 minutes

Passing Score:

100%

Question

Which practice avoids a common mistake with Top-K with a Heap?

  1. Ignore the Top-K with a Heap issue and rely on team discipline instead of APIs or contracts.
  2. Do not choose the wrong heap orientation, because a reversed comparator can silently keep the wrong side of the ranking.
  3. Silence the Top-K with a Heap problem by using raw types, broad catches, or shared mutable state.
  4. Prefer the version of Top-K with a Heap that makes behavior less predictable as long as the code compiles.

Hint

Look for the option that protects correctness instead of hiding the problem.

Answer and rationale

Correct answer: B. Do not choose the wrong heap orientation, because a reversed comparator can silently keep the wrong side of the ranking.

Do not choose the wrong heap orientation, because a reversed comparator can silently keep the wrong side of the ranking. This is a common failure mode in real Java code and a frequent interview follow-up.

Track: Java