<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
        
        # Step 1: Find the minimum and maximum values in the array
        min_val, max_val = min(nums), max(nums)
        
        # Edge case: If all elements are the same, return 0
        if min_val == max_val:
            return 0
        
        # Step 2: Compute the bucket size and number of buckets
        n = len(nums)
        bucket_size = max(1, (max_val - min_val) // (n - 1))
        num_buckets = (max_val - min_val) // bucket_size + 1
        
        # Step 3: Initialize the buckets
        buckets = [None] * num_buckets
        
        # Step 4: Distribute elements into buckets
        for num in nums:
            bucket_index = (num - min_val) // bucket_size
            if buckets[bucket_index] is None:
                buckets[bucket_index] = [num, num]
            else:
                buckets[bucket_index][0] = min(buckets[bucket_index][0], num)
                buckets[bucket_index][1] = max(buckets[bucket_index][1], num)
        
        # Step 5: Calculate the maximum gap
        max_gap = 0
        prev_max = min_val
        for bucket in buckets:
            if bucket is not None:
                max_gap = max(max_gap, bucket[0] - prev_max)
                prev_max = bucket[1]
        
        return max_gap

# Example usage:
solution = Solution()
nums = [3, 6, 9, 1]
print(solution.maximumGap(nums))  # Output: 3
31676