Squares in Order

Easy

A sensor reports deviations from the norm as integers readings, already sorted in non-decreasing order; some of them may be negative. The report needs their squares. Return the squares of all numbers in readings, sorted in non-decreasing order. Squaring everything and sorting is easy. Try to do it in O(n) without sorting.

Example 1

readings=[-6, -2, 1, 5] → [1, 4, 25, 36]

The squares are 36, 4, 1, 25; in ascending order that is 1, 4, 25, 36.

Example 2

readings=[-3, -3, 0, 3] → [0, 9, 9, 9]

Equal squares all stay in the answer: three 9s.

Example 3

readings=[2, 8] → [4, 64]

Constraints

1 ≤ len(readings) ≤ 10⁴
-10⁴ ≤ readings[i] ≤ 10⁴
readings is sorted in non-decreasing order

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Topics

Array Two Pointers Sorting

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Input

readings=[-6, -2, 1, 5]

Expected

[1, 4, 25, 36]

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