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MongoDB

Sort all flights by `departureTime` ascending using the aggregation pipeline.

Problem Statement

<p>Sort all flights by <code>departureTime</code> ascending using the aggregation pipeline.</p>

Examples

Input: flights collection: +-----+---------+---------------+ | _id | route | departureTime | +-----+---------+---------------+ | 1 | NYC-LAX | 1400 | | 2 | NYC-SFO | 800 | | 3 | NYC-CHI | 1100 | +-----+---------+---------------+

Output: +-----+---------+---------------+ | _id | route | departureTime | +-----+---------+---------------+ | 2 | NYC-SFO | 800 | | 3 | NYC-CHI | 1100 | | 1 | NYC-LAX | 1400 | +-----+---------+---------------+

Explanation: The collection documents are sorted according to the specified field order.

Complexity

Time Complexity: -

Space Complexity: -

Hints

šŸ’” Hint 1: Use db.<collection>.aggregate([ ... ]) to run a multi-stage data processing pipeline. šŸ’” Hint 2: Order pipeline stages logically (e.g. $match early to filter documents before processing). šŸ’” Hint 3: Convert the aggregation cursor using .toArray() at the end of the function.

Editorial & Approach

Problem Overview & Intuition

To solve "Aggregation: $sort Stage", we query the MongoDB document store. The goal is to sort all flights by `departuretime` ascending using the aggregation pipeline. Using an aggregation pipeline, the database engine filters and structures the BSON documents efficiently.

Step-by-Step Approach

  1. Identify Target Collection: Access the collection through the db instance.
  2. Construct Query / Pipeline: Build the aggregation stages ($match, $group, $sort, etc.).
  3. Resolve Cursor: Invoke .toArray() to transform the query cursor into the required array of documents.

Optimal Implementation (MongoDB)

function solve(db) {
  return db.flights.aggregate([{ $sort: { departureTime: 1 } }]);
}

Complexity Analysis

Time Complexity O(N) pipeline traversal through aggregation stages.
Space Complexity O(M) intermediate document buffer in aggregation pipeline.

Key Considerations & Edge Cases

  • Empty Collections: If no documents match, the query cleanly returns an empty array [].
  • Missing / NULL Fields: Missing fields in documents are handled safely without throwing runtime exceptions.
  • Type Coercion: BSON types (ObjectId, Numbers, Strings) are compared strictly according to MongoDB specifications.

Aggregation: $sort Stage

Medium

Sort all flights by departureTime ascending using the aggregation pipeline.

Example Scenarios
1Example 1
Input:
flights collection
_idroutedepartureTime
1NYC-LAX1400
2NYC-SFO800
3NYC-CHI1100
Output:
_idroutedepartureTime
2NYC-SFO800
3NYC-CHI1100
1NYC-LAX1400
Explanation:

The collection documents are sorted according to the specified field order.

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