<p>Given an integer array <code>nums</code>, return <em>the maximum difference between two successive elements in its sorted form</em>. If the array contains less than two elements, return <code>0</code>.</p>

<p>You must write an algorithm that runs in linear time and uses linear extra space.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong class="example">Example 1:</strong></p>

<pre>
<strong>Input:</strong> nums = [3,6,9,1]
<strong>Output:</strong> 3
<strong>Explanation:</strong> The sorted form of the array is [1,3,6,9], either (3,6) or (6,9) has the maximum difference 3.
</pre>

<p><strong class="example">Example 2:</strong></p>

<pre>
<strong>Input:</strong> nums = [10]
<strong>Output:</strong> 0
<strong>Explanation:</strong> The array contains less than 2 elements, therefore return 0.
</pre>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Constraints:</strong></p>

<ul>
	<li><code>1 &lt;= nums.length &lt;= 10<sup>5</sup></code></li>
	<li><code>0 &lt;= nums[i] &lt;= 10<sup>9</sup></code></li>
</ul>

class Solution:
    def maximumGap(self, nums: List[int]) -> int:
        if len(nums) < 2:
            return 0
        
        MAX, MIN = max(nums), min(nums)
        n = len(nums)
        if MAX == MIN:
            return 0  # if all elements are the same, the max gap is 0
        
        # Calculate the bucket size
        bucket_size = max(1, (MAX - MIN) / (n - 1))
        num_buckets = int((MAX - MIN) / bucket_size) + 1
        
        # Initialize the buckets
        buckets = [[float("inf"), float("-inf")] for _ in range(num_buckets)]
        
        # Place each number in its corresponding bucket
        for num in nums:
            index = int((num - MIN) / bucket_size)
            buckets[index][0] = min(buckets[index][0], num)  # update min in the bucket
            buckets[index][1] = max(buckets[index][1], num)  # update max in the bucket
        
        # Now find the maximum gap
        prev_max = MIN
        max_gap = 0
        
        for i in range(num_buckets):
            if buckets[i][0] == float('inf'):  # Skip empty buckets
                continue
            # Calculate the gap between the previous bucket's max and the current bucket's min
            max_gap = max(max_gap, buckets[i][0] - prev_max)
            # Update prev_max to the current bucket's max
            prev_max = buckets[i][1]
        
        return max_gap


        
        
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