What is a sparse table and why is it used?

Question

Accepted Answer

Sparse table is a data structure used to efficiently answer range queries on an array.

Sparse table is used to optimize range query operations on an array.
It precomputes and stores the answers to all possible range queries in a table.
The table is constructed using a divide-and-conquer approach.
Sparse table reduces the time complexity of range queries from O(n) to O(1).
It is commonly used in scenarios where range queries are frequent and array elements are static.

Accepted Answer

Sparse table is a data structure used to store memory in an organised way to calculate the queries in effective manner