How Can We Efficiently Detect Overlapping Time Periods?

Determining Overlapping Time Intervals: A Simple Algorithm

Identifying overlapping time intervals is a frequent requirement across various applications. This article presents a straightforward and efficient method to determine if two time periods, each defined by a start and end time, overlap.

The core of the algorithm involves a direct comparison of the start and end times. Overlap exists if the start time of the first interval precedes the end time of the second interval, and the start time of the second interval precedes the end time of the first interval. This can be expressed as:

<code>(tStartA < tEndB) && (tStartB < tEndA)</code>

This concise condition elegantly handles all possible overlap scenarios:

• Scenario 1: Interval A begins before Interval B and ends within Interval B.
• Scenario 2: Interval A begins before Interval B and ends after Interval B.
• Scenario 3: Interval A begins within Interval B and ends after Interval B.
• Scenario 4: Interval A completely encompasses Interval B (implicitly covered by Scenarios 2 and 3).

While more complex approaches, such as using specialized time interval classes or libraries, exist, the simple comparison method above offers both efficiency and ease of implementation, making it ideal for most practical applications.

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