Solutions

# Binary search. Or brute force.
# binary-search

# Binary search - O(log n) time, O(1) space
def findMin(nums: list[int]) -> int:
    """
    >>> findMin([3,4,5,1,2])
    1
    >>> findMin([4,5,6,7,0,1,2])
    0
    """
    l = 0
    r = len(nums) -1
    while l < r:
        mid = l + (r-l) // 2
        if nums[mid] > nums[r]:
            # the smallest number is at the right of mid
            l = mid+1
        else:
            # the smallest number is at the left of mid
            r = mid

    return nums[l]


# Brute force - O(n) time, O(1) space
def findMin1(nums: list[int]) -> int:
    return min(nums)