Compacting a set of number ranges

[C Halbe]

How would you compact a set of number ranges in pairs such that

eg. Given:[1,10], [2,5], [25, 40]
output : [1,10] covers [2,5] hence output would be [1,10] and [25,40]

[Paul Clapham]

First I would put them in order, then I would merge adjacent pairs which overlapped.

[C Halbe]

What type of collection/data structure would you use?

[Jeff Verdegan]

C Halbe wrote:What type of collection/data structure would you use?

For what part? What have you tried and what specific problems are you having?

Start by spelling out clearly and in detail how you would do it "manually." Make sure that each step is very small, simple, and basic.

[Paul Clapham]

C Halbe wrote:What type of collection/data structure would you use?

That should be obvious. The choice is List, Set, Map. We want things in order so Set is out. We don't have keys and values so Map is out. That leaves List.

But as Jeff suggests, you should figure out what you want to do before you start deciding how to do it.