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.
09 Sept 2026•Easy•Go / Python / TypeScript
Matrix Cells in Distance Order
Return all matrix coordinates ordered by Manhattan distance from a chosen cell.
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[0] - rCenter) + abs(cell[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 = 0; row < rows; row += 1) for (let column = 0; column < cols; column += 1) cells.push([row, column]);
return cells.sort((left, right) => Math.abs(left[0] - rCenter) + Math.abs(left[1] - cCenter) - Math.abs(right[0] - rCenter) - Math.abs(right[1] - cCenter));
}