09 Sept 2026•Go / Python / TypeScript•Easy

Matrix Cells in Distance Order

Return all matrix coordinates ordered by Manhattan distance from a chosen cell.

View original LeetCode question

Enumerate every coordinate and sort by the sum of its row and column distance from the center.

complexity

O(rc log(rc)) time and O(rc) output space.

solution files

Go matrix-cells-in-distance-order/solution.go
Python matrix-cells-in-distance-order/solution.py
TypeScript matrix-cells-in-distance-order/solution.ts

Solution files

Go•matrix-cells-in-distance-order/solution.go

package main

import "sort"

func allCellsDistOrder(rows int, cols int, rCenter int, cCenter int) [][]int {
	cells := make([][]int, 0, rows*cols)
	for row := 0; row < rows; row++ {
		for column := 0; column < cols; column++ {
			cells = append(cells, []int{row, column})
		}
	}
	distance := func(cell []int) int {
		row := cell[0] - rCenter
		if row < 0 {
			row = -row
		}
		column := cell[1] - cCenter
		if column < 0 {
			column = -column
		}
		return row + column
	}
	sort.Slice(cells, func(i int, j int) bool { return distance(cells[i]) < distance(cells[j]) })
	return cells
}

Python•matrix-cells-in-distance-order/solution.py

class Solution:
    def allCellsDistOrder(self, rows: int, cols: int, rCenter: int, cCenter: int) -> list[list[int]]:
        cells = [[row, column] for row in range(rows) for column in range(cols)]
        return sorted(cells, key=lambda cell: abs(cell[class="syntax-number">0] - rCenter) + abs(cell[class="syntax-number">1] - cCenter))

TypeScript•matrix-cells-in-distance-order/solution.ts

function allCellsDistOrder(rows: number, cols: number, rCenter: number, cCenter: number): number[][] {
  const cells: number[][] = []; for (let row = class="syntax-number">0; row < rows; row += class="syntax-number">1) for (let column = class="syntax-number">0; column < cols; column += class="syntax-number">1) cells.push([row, column]);
  return cells.sort((left, right) => Math.abs(left[class="syntax-number">0] - rCenter) + Math.abs(left[class="syntax-number">1] - cCenter) - Math.abs(right[class="syntax-number">0] - rCenter) - Math.abs(right[class="syntax-number">1] - cCenter));
}