Leetcode ZigZag Conversion Java Solution
// SOLVING THIS WITH AN AI ASSISTANT (2026)
If you are working through this problem with an AI coding assistant — Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor chat, Gemini, GitHub Copilot, Aider, or any agent — the goal isn’t to ask for the answer. It is to use the tool to understand the pattern. The prompt sequence I’d run:
- Spec it back to me first. “In your own words, what is this problem actually testing? What’s the smallest example that fails the naive approach?”
- Brute-force first, optimize after. “Write the simplest correct solution, even if it’s O(n²). Don’t optimize. Just make it correct, with comments explaining each step.”
- Ask for the upgrade. “Now show me the optimal solution. What insight makes it possible? What pattern is this an instance of?”
- Stress-test it. “Generate 10 edge cases — empty input, single element, duplicates, max size, sorted, reverse-sorted. Run my solution against each.”
The pattern matters more than the answer. If the agent just hands you optimized code, you’ve trained yourself to lose interviews.
The string "PAYPALISHIRING" is written in a zigzag pattern on a given number of rows like this: (you may want to display this pattern in a fixed font for better legibility)
P A H N A P L S I I G Y I R
And then read line by line: "PAHNAPLSIIGYIR"
Write the code that will take a string and make this conversion given a number of rows:
string convert(string s, int numRows);
Example 1:
Input: s = "PAYPALISHIRING", numRows = 3 Output: "PAHNAPLSIIGYIR"
Example 2:
Input: s = "PAYPALISHIRING", numRows = 4 Output: "PINALSIGYAHRPI" Explanation: P I N A L S I G Y A H R P I
Solution:
class HackerHeap {
public String convert(String s, int numRows) {
if(s.isEmpty() || numRows == 0 || numRows == 1)
return s;
String[] collector = new String[numRows];
int c = 0;
int subC = 0;
while(c < s.length()) {
int idx = Math.abs(subC);
if(collector[idx] == null)
collector[idx] = String.valueOf(s.charAt(c));
else
collector[idx] = collector[idx]+s.charAt(c);
c++;
if(subC == numRows-1)
subC *= -1;
subC++;
}
StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder();
for(int i = 0; i < numRows; i++) {
if(collector[i] != null)
result.append(collector[i]);
}
return result.toString();
}
}For the AI-native engineering side of HackerHeap — building MCP servers, comparing agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Codex, Gemini, Copilot), and weekly working code — see the Friday Build newsletter and the MCP archive.