Introduction

In this blog post, we'll share the most commonly asked coding interview questions at BlackRock. If you don't have months to study for your interviews, you can use AI tools like Chatmagic to generate solutions quickly and efficiently - helping you pass the interviews and get the job offer!

Problem #2: Find the Maximum Sum of Node Values

There exists an undirected tree with n nodes numbered 0 to n - 1. You are given a 0-indexed 2D integer array edges of length n - 1, where edges[i] = [ui, vi] indicates that there is an edge between nodes ui and vi in the tree. You are also given a positive integer k, and a 0-indexed array of non-negative integers nums of length n, where nums[i] represents the value of the node numbered i. Alice wants the sum of values of tree nodes to be maximum, for which Alice can perform the following operation any number of times (including zero) on the tree: Choose any edge [u, v] connecting the nodes u and v, and update their values as follows: nums[u] = nums[u] XOR k nums[v] = nums[v] XOR k Return the maximum possible sum of the values Alice can achieve by performing the operation any number of times. Example 1: Input: nums = [1,2,1], k = 3, edges = [[0,1],[0,2]] Output: 6 Explanation: Alice can achieve the maximum sum of 6 using a single operation: - Choose the edge [0,2]. nums[0] and nums[2] become: 1 XOR 3 = 2, and the array nums becomes: [1,2,1] -> [2,2,2]. The total sum of values is 2 + 2 + 2 = 6. It can be shown that 6 is the maximum achievable sum of values. Example 2: Input: nums = [2,3], k = 7, edges = [[0,1]] Output: 9 Explanation: Alice can achieve the maximum sum of 9 using a single operation: - Choose the edge [0,1]. nums[0] becomes: 2 XOR 7 = 5 and nums[1] become: 3 XOR 7 = 4, and the array nums becomes: [2,3] -> [5,4]. The total sum of values is 5 + 4 = 9. It can be shown that 9 is the maximum achievable sum of values. Example 3: Input: nums = [7,7,7,7,7,7], k = 3, edges = [[0,1],[0,2],[0,3],[0,4],[0,5]] Output: 42 Explanation: The maximum achievable sum is 42 which can be achieved by Alice performing no operations. Constraints: 2 <= n == nums.length <= 2 * 104 1 <= k <= 109 0 <= nums[i] <= 109 edges.length == n - 1 edges[i].length == 2 0 <= edges[i][0], edges[i][1] <= n - 1 The input is generated such that edges represent a valid tree.

Topics: Array, Dynamic Programming, Greedy, Bit Manipulation, Tree, Sorting

Problem #3: Happy Number

Write an algorithm to determine if a number n is happy. A happy number is a number defined by the following process: Starting with any positive integer, replace the number by the sum of the squares of its digits. Repeat the process until the number equals 1 (where it will stay), or it loops endlessly in a cycle which does not include 1. Those numbers for which this process ends in 1 are happy. Return true if n is a happy number, and false if not. Example 1: Input: n = 19 Output: true Explanation: 12 + 92 = 82 82 + 22 = 68 62 + 82 = 100 12 + 02 + 02 = 1 Example 2: Input: n = 2 Output: false Constraints: 1 <= n <= 231 - 1

Topics: Hash Table, Math, Two Pointers

Problem #4: Valid Parentheses

Given a string s containing just the characters '(', ')', '{', '}', '[' and ']', determine if the input string is valid. An input string is valid if: Open brackets must be closed by the same type of brackets. Open brackets must be closed in the correct order. Every close bracket has a corresponding open bracket of the same type. Example 1: Input: s = "()" Output: true Example 2: Input: s = "()[]{}" Output: true Example 3: Input: s = "(]" Output: false Example 4: Input: s = "([])" Output: true Constraints: 1 <= s.length <= 104 s consists of parentheses only '()[]{}'.

Topics: String, Stack