{"id":7340,"date":"2025-06-27T14:22:27","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T08:52:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/namastedev.com\/blog\/?p=7340"},"modified":"2025-09-29T19:05:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T13:35:03","slug":"best-time-to-buy-and-sell-stocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/namastedev.com\/blog\/best-time-to-buy-and-sell-stocks\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Time to Buy and Sell Stocks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<link\n    href=\"https:\/\/cdn.jsdelivr.net\/npm\/prismjs@1.29.0\/themes\/prism-tomorrow.min.css\"\n    rel=\"stylesheet\"\n\/>\n<script src=\"https:\/\/cdn.jsdelivr.net\/npm\/prismjs@1.29.0\/prism.min.js\"><\/script>\n<script src=\"https:\/\/cdn.jsdelivr.net\/npm\/prismjs@1.29.0\/plugins\/autoloader\/prism-autoloader.min.js\"><\/script>\n\n<style>\n.wp_blog_theme {\n  --primary: #E58C32;\n  --secondary: #030302;\n  --light-bg: #fef9f4;\n  --text-dark: #2d2d2d;\n  --tab-radius: 12px;\n  --shadow: 0 4px 12px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.08);\n  --code-bg: #001f3f;\n  --code-text: #d4f1ff;\n}\n\n.wp_blog_container {\n  font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;\n  background: var(--light-bg);\n  margin: 0;\n  padding: 0;\n  color: var(--text-dark);\n}\n\n\/* Heading *\/\n.wp_blog_main-heading {\n  text-align: center;\n  font-size: 2.4rem;\n  color: var(--primary);\n  margin-top: 2.5rem;\n  font-weight: bold;\n}\n\n\/* Explanation Card *\/\n.wp_blog_explanation,\n.wp_blog_code-tabs-container {\n  max-width: 940px;\n  margin: 2rem auto;\n  padding: 2rem;\n  background: white;\n  border-radius: var(--tab-radius);\n  box-shadow: var(--shadow);\n}\n\n\/* Text and Visuals *\/\n.wp_blog_explanation h2 {\n  font-size: 1.4rem;\n  color: var(--primary);\n  margin-bottom: 0.5rem;\n}\n\n.wp_blog_explanation p,\n.wp_blog_explanation li {\n  font-size: 1.05rem;\n  line-height: 1.7;\n  margin: 0.5rem 0;\n}\n\n.wp_blog_explanation code {\n  background: #fef9f4;   \/* light bg instead of dark blue *\/\n  color: #E58C32;        \/* brand orange *\/\n  padding: 3px 6px;\n  border-radius: 4px;\n  font-family: 'Courier New', monospace;\n  font-weight: 600;      \/* optional, makes it pop *\/\n}\n\n.wp_blog_explanation img {\n  max-width: 100%;\n  border-radius: var(--tab-radius);\n  margin-top: 1rem;\n  box-shadow: 0 2px 12px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.06);\n}\n\n\/* Tab Buttons *\/\n.wp_blog_code-tabs-header {\n  display: flex;\n  flex-wrap: wrap;\n  gap: 0.5rem;\n  margin-bottom: 1rem;\n}\n\n.wp_blog_code-tab-button {\n  padding: 0.6rem 1.2rem;\n  border: 1px solid var(--primary);\n  background: white;\n  color: var(--primary);\n  border-radius: 50px;\n  font-weight: 600;\n  cursor: pointer;\n  transition: all 0.3s ease;\n}\n\n.wp_blog_code-tab-button:hover {\n  background: var(--secondary);\n}\n\n.wp_blog_code-tab-button.active {\n  background: var(--primary);\n  color: white;\n}\n\n\/* Code Content *\/\n.wp_blog_code-tab-content {\n  display: none;\n  background: var(--code-bg);\n  border-radius: var(--tab-radius);\n}\n\n.wp_blog_code-tab-content.active {\n  display: block;\n}\n\n.wp_blog_code-tab-content pre {\n  margin: 0;\n  padding: 1.5rem;\n  font-size: 1rem;\n  overflow-x: auto;\n  background: var(--code-bg);\n  border-radius: var(--tab-radius);\n  color: var(--code-text);\n}\n\n\/* Dark mode variables *\/\n.wp_blog_theme.dark-mode {\n  --light-bg: #121212;\n  --text-dark: #f5f5f5;\n  --shadow: 0 4px 12px rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.08);\n  --code-bg: #1e1e1e;\n  --code-text: #c5f0ff;\n}\n\n.wp_blog_theme.dark-mode .wp_blog_explanation {\n  background: #1e1e1e;\n}\n\n\/* Dark mode code highlight *\/\n.wp_blog_theme.dark-mode .wp_blog_explanation code {\n  background: #333;\n  color: #ffd27f;\n}\n\n.wp_blog_theme {\n  position: relative; \/* makes it the reference for absolute children *\/\n}\n\n.wp_blog_toggle-btn {\n  position: absolute;\n  top: 1rem;\n  right: 1rem;\n  z-index: 9999;\n  padding: 0.5rem 0.8rem;\n  border-radius: 10%;\n  background: var(--primary);\n  color: white;\n  font-weight: bold;\n  cursor: pointer;\n  border: none;\n  box-shadow: var(--shadow);\n  transition: background 0.3s, transform 0.2s;\n}\n\n.wp_blog_toggle-btn:hover {\n  background: #cc772e;\n}\n\n.wp_blog_theme.dark-mode .wp_blog_code-tabs-container {\n  background: #1e1e1e;\n}\n<\/style>\n\n<div class=\"wp_blog_container wp_blog_theme\"> \n      <button id=\"blogNotesThemeToggle\" class=\"wp_blog_toggle-btn\">\ud83c\udf19<\/button>\n    <h1 class=\"wp_blog_main-heading\"><\/h1>\n    <div class=\"wp_blog_explanation\">\n        <h2>Problem Statement:<\/h2>\n\n        <p>You are given an array <code>prices<\/code> where <code>prices[i]<\/code> is the price of a given stock on the ith day.\n\n        You want to maximize your profit by choosing a single day to buy one stock and choosing a different day in the future to sell that stock.\n        <\/p>\n        <p>\n            Return the maximum profit you can achieve from this transaction. If you cannot achieve any profit, return <code>0<\/code>.\n        <\/p>\n\n                <h2>Examples:<\/h2>\n\n                <h5>Example 1:<\/h5>\n                <p><strong>Input:<\/strong>prices = [7, 1, 5, 3, 6, 4]<\/p>\n                <p><strong>Output:<\/strong>5<\/p>\n                <p>\n                  <code>Explanation:<\/code>\n                  Buy on day 2 (price = 1) and sell on day 5 (price = 6), profit = 6 \u2013 1 = 5.\n                <\/p>\n\n                <h5>Example 2:<\/h5>\n                <p><strong>Input:<\/strong>prices = [7,6,4,3,1]<\/p>\n                <p><strong>Output:<\/strong>0<\/p>\n                  <p>\n                  <code>Explanation:<\/code>\n                  Explanation: In this case, no transactions are done and the max profit = 0.\n                <\/p>\n\n                    <h2>Constraints:<\/h2>\n                    <ul>\n                      <li>1 <= prices.length <= 10<sup>5<\/sup><\/li>\n                      <li>0 <= prices[i] <= 10<sup>4<\/sup><\/li>\n                    <\/ul>\n\n                <h2>Approach: Brute Force<\/h2>\n                <ul>\n                    <li>Initialize <code>maxProfit = 0<\/code>.<\/li>\n                    <li>Use two nested loops.<\/li>\n                    <li>Outer loop picks a day <code>i<\/code>to buy the stock.<\/li>\n                    <li>Inner loop picks a day <code>j > i<\/code> to sell the stock.<\/li>\n                    <li>For every pair <code>(i, j)<\/code>, calculate the profit: <code>prices[j] - prices[i]<\/code>.<\/li>\n                    <li>If this profit is greater than <code>maxProfit<\/code>, update <code>maxProfit<\/code>.<\/li>\n                <\/ul>\n\n                <h2>Time Complexity:<\/h2>\n                <li>\n                  <p><strong>Time Complexity = O(n<sup>2<\/sup>)<\/strong>\n                Two nested loops. For every element i, check all j > i. Total comparisons = n(n-1)\/2 \u2192 O(n\u00b2)\n                  <\/li>\n                <h2>Space Complexity:<\/h2>\n                <li>\n                  <p><strong>Space Complexity = O(1)<\/strong>\n                  No extra data structures used. Only uses a variable maxProfit.<\/p>\n                <\/li>\n\n<h2>Dry Run<\/h2>\n<div style=\"background: var(--light-bg); border-left: 4px solid var(--primary); padding: 1rem; border-radius: var(--tab-radius); margin: 1rem 0; color: var(--text-dark);\"> \n  <p><strong>Input:<\/strong> <code>prices = [7, 1, 5, 3, 6, 4]<\/code><\/p> \n  \n  <pre style=\"white-space: pre-wrap; background: var(--code-bg); padding: 1rem; border-radius: 8px; overflow-x: auto; color: var(--code-text);\">\ni = 0, prices[i] = 7\n   j = 1 \u2192 1 - 7 = -6 \u2192 maxProfit = 0\n   j = 2 \u2192 5 - 7 = -2 \u2192 maxProfit = 0\n   j = 3 \u2192 3 - 7 = -4 \u2192 maxProfit = 0\n   j = 4 \u2192 6 - 7 = -1 \u2192 maxProfit = 0\n   j = 5 \u2192 4 - 7 = -3 \u2192 maxProfit = 0\n\ni = 1, prices[i] = 1\n   j = 2 \u2192 5 - 1 = 4 \u2192 maxProfit = 4\n   j = 3 \u2192 3 - 1 = 2 \u2192 maxProfit = 4\n   j = 4 \u2192 6 - 1 = 5 \u2192 maxProfit = 5\n   j = 5 \u2192 4 - 1 = 3 \u2192 maxProfit = 5\n\ni = 2, prices[i] = 5\n   j = 3 \u2192 3 - 5 = -2 \u2192 maxProfit = 5\n   j = 4 \u2192 6 - 5 = 1 \u2192 maxProfit = 5\n   j = 5 \u2192 4 - 5 = -1 \u2192 maxProfit = 5\n\n... and so on.\n\nFinal maxProfit = 5 (buy at 1, sell at 6)\n  <\/pre> \n  \n  <p><strong>Output:<\/strong> <code>5<\/code><\/p> \n<\/div>\n\n                \n        <h2>Visualisation:<\/h2>\n        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/namastedev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screenshot-2025-06-27-at-12.58.36\u202fPM.png\" alt=\"Stocks\" \/>\n   \n   \n      <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"wp_blog_code-tabs-container\">\n        <div class=\"wp_blog_code-tabs-header\">\n            <button class=\"wp_blog_code-tab-button active\" data-lang=\"js\">JavaScript<\/button>\n            <button class=\"wp_blog_code-tab-button\" data-lang=\"py\">Python<\/button>\n            <button class=\"wp_blog_code-tab-button\" data-lang=\"java\">Java<\/button>\n            <button class=\"wp_blog_code-tab-button\" data-lang=\"cpp\">C++<\/button>\n            <button class=\"wp_blog_code-tab-button\" data-lang=\"c\">C<\/button>\n            <button class=\"wp_blog_code-tab-button\" data-lang=\"cs\">C#<\/button>\n        <\/div>\n\n        <!-- JavaScript -->\n        <div class=\"wp_blog_code-tab-content active\" data-lang=\"js\">\n            <pre><code class=\"language-javascript\">\nvar maxProfit = function(prices) {\n      let maxProfit = 0;\n      for (let i = 0; i < prices.length; i++) {\n          for (let j = i + 1; j < prices.length; j++) {\n              if ((prices[j] - prices[i]) > maxProfit) {\n                  maxProfit = prices[j] - prices[i];\n              }\n          }\n      }\n      return maxProfit;\n  };     <\/code><\/pre>\n        <\/div>\n\n        <!-- Python -->\n        <div class=\"wp_blog_code-tab-content\" data-lang=\"py\">\n            <pre><code class=\"language-python\">\n  class Solution(object):\n      def maxProfit(self, prices):\n          maxProfit = 0\n          for i in range(len(prices)):\n              for j in range(i + 1, len(prices)):\n                  profit = prices[j] - prices[i]\n                  if profit > maxProfit:\n                      maxProfit = profit\n          return maxProfit\n            <\/code><\/pre>\n        <\/div>\n\n        <!-- Java -->\n        <div class=\"wp_blog_code-tab-content\" data-lang=\"java\">\n            <pre><code class=\"language-java\">\n  public class Solution {\n      public int maxProfit(int[] prices) {\n          int maxProfit = 0;\n          for (int i = 0; i < prices.length; i++) {\n              for (int j = i + 1; j < prices.length; j++) {\n                  int profit = prices[j] - prices[i];\n                  if (profit > maxProfit) {\n                      maxProfit = profit;\n                  }\n              }\n          }\n          return maxProfit;\n      }\n  }        <\/code><\/pre>\n        <\/div>\n\n        <!-- C++ -->\n        <div class=\"wp_blog_code-tab-content\" data-lang=\"cpp\">\n            <pre><code class=\"language-cpp\">\n class Solution {\n  public:\n      int maxProfit(vector<int>& prices) {\n          int maxProfit = 0;\n          for (int i = 0; i < prices.size(); i++) {\n              for (int j = i + 1; j < prices.size(); j++) {\n                  int profit = prices[j] - prices[i];\n                  if (profit > maxProfit)\n                      maxProfit = profit;\n              }\n          }\n          return maxProfit;\n      }\n  };    <\/code><\/pre>\n        <\/div>\n\n        <!-- C -->\n        <div class=\"wp_blog_code-tab-content\" data-lang=\"c\">\n            <pre><code class=\"language-c\">\n  int maxProfit(int* prices, int pricesSize) {\n      int maxProfit = 0;\n      for (int i = 0; i < pricesSize; i++) {\n          for (int j = i + 1; j < pricesSize; j++) {\n              int profit = prices[j] - prices[i];\n              if (profit > maxProfit)\n                  maxProfit = profit;\n          }\n      }\n      return maxProfit;\n  }        <\/code><\/pre>\n        <\/div>\n\n        <!-- C# -->\n        <div class=\"wp_blog_code-tab-content\" data-lang=\"cs\">\n            <pre><code class=\"language-csharp\">\n public class Solution {\n        public int MaxProfit(int[] prices) {\n            int maxProfit = 0;\n            for (int i = 0; i < prices.Length; i++) {\n                for (int j = i + 1; j < prices.Length; j++) {\n                    int profit = prices[j] - prices[i];\n                    if (profit > maxProfit)\n                        maxProfit = profit;\n                }\n            }\n            return maxProfit;\n        }\n    }         <\/code><\/pre>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<script>\ndocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", () => {\n  const buttons = document.querySelectorAll(\".wp_blog_code-tab-button\");\n  const contents = document.querySelectorAll(\".wp_blog_code-tab-content\");\n\n  buttons.forEach((button) => {\n    button.addEventListener(\"click\", () => {\n      const lang = button.getAttribute(\"data-lang\");\n\n      buttons.forEach((btn) => btn.classList.remove(\"active\"));\n      contents.forEach((content) => content.classList.remove(\"active\"));\n\n      button.classList.add(\"active\");\n      document\n        .querySelector(`.wp_blog_code-tab-content[data-lang=\"${lang}\"]`)\n        .classList.add(\"active\");\n    });\n  });\n\n  const themeToggle = document.getElementById(\"blogNotesThemeToggle\");\n  const themeContainer = document.querySelector(\".wp_blog_theme\");\n\n  themeToggle.addEventListener(\"click\", () => {\n    themeContainer.classList.toggle(\"dark-mode\");\n    themeToggle.textContent =\n      themeContainer.classList.contains(\"dark-mode\") ? \"\u2600\ufe0f\" : \"\ud83c\udf19\";\n  });\n});\n<\/script>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\ud83c\udf19 Problem Statement: You are given an array prices where prices[i] is the price of a given stock on the ith day. You want to maximize your profit by choosing a single day to buy one stock and choosing a different day in the future to sell that stock. Return the maximum profit you can<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[210,322,260,176,175,211,811,810,174,172,173,284],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-algorithms","category-algorithms-and-data-structures","category-c-c-plus-plus","category-csharp","category-cplusplus","category-data-structures","category-data-structures-and-algorithms","category-dsa","category-java","category-javascript","category-python","category-software-engineering"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/namastedev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/namastedev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/namastedev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/namastedev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/namastedev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7340"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/namastedev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10160,"href":"https:\/\/namastedev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7340\/revisions\/10160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/namastedev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/namastedev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/namastedev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}