Introduction

In this blog post, we'll share the most commonly asked coding interview questions at HashedIn. 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 #1: Minimum Cost to Make Array Equal

You are given two 0-indexed arrays nums and cost consisting each of n positive integers. You can do the following operation any number of times: Increase or decrease any element of the array nums by 1. The cost of doing one operation on the ith element is cost[i]. Return the minimum total cost such that all the elements of the array nums become equal. Example 1: Input: nums = [1,3,5,2], cost = [2,3,1,14] Output: 8 Explanation: We can make all the elements equal to 2 in the following way: - Increase the 0th element one time. The cost is 2. - Decrease the 1st element one time. The cost is 3. - Decrease the 2nd element three times. The cost is 1 + 1 + 1 = 3. The total cost is 2 + 3 + 3 = 8. It can be shown that we cannot make the array equal with a smaller cost. Example 2: Input: nums = [2,2,2,2,2], cost = [4,2,8,1,3] Output: 0 Explanation: All the elements are already equal, so no operations are needed. Constraints: n == nums.length == cost.length 1 <= n <= 105 1 <= nums[i], cost[i] <= 106 Test cases are generated in a way that the output doesn't exceed 253-1

Topics: Array, Binary Search, Greedy, Sorting, Prefix Sum

Problem #2: Next Permutation

A permutation of an array of integers is an arrangement of its members into a sequence or linear order. For example, for arr = [1,2,3], the following are all the permutations of arr: [1,2,3], [1,3,2], [2, 1, 3], [2, 3, 1], [3,1,2], [3,2,1]. The next permutation of an array of integers is the next lexicographically greater permutation of its integer. More formally, if all the permutations of the array are sorted in one container according to their lexicographical order, then the next permutation of that array is the permutation that follows it in the sorted container. If such arrangement is not possible, the array must be rearranged as the lowest possible order (i.e., sorted in ascending order). For example, the next permutation of arr = [1,2,3] is [1,3,2]. Similarly, the next permutation of arr = [2,3,1] is [3,1,2]. While the next permutation of arr = [3,2,1] is [1,2,3] because [3,2,1] does not have a lexicographical larger rearrangement. Given an array of integers nums, find the next permutation of nums. The replacement must be in place and use only constant extra memory. Example 1: Input: nums = [1,2,3] Output: [1,3,2] Example 2: Input: nums = [3,2,1] Output: [1,2,3] Example 3: Input: nums = [1,1,5] Output: [1,5,1] Constraints: 1 <= nums.length <= 100 0 <= nums[i] <= 100

Topics: Array, Two Pointers

Problem #3: Chalkboard XOR Game

You are given an array of integers nums represents the numbers written on a chalkboard. Alice and Bob take turns erasing exactly one number from the chalkboard, with Alice starting first. If erasing a number causes the bitwise XOR of all the elements of the chalkboard to become 0, then that player loses. The bitwise XOR of one element is that element itself, and the bitwise XOR of no elements is 0. Also, if any player starts their turn with the bitwise XOR of all the elements of the chalkboard equal to 0, then that player wins. Return true if and only if Alice wins the game, assuming both players play optimally. Example 1: Input: nums = [1,1,2] Output: false Explanation: Alice has two choices: erase 1 or erase 2. If she erases 1, the nums array becomes [1, 2]. The bitwise XOR of all the elements of the chalkboard is 1 XOR 2 = 3. Now Bob can remove any element he wants, because Alice will be the one to erase the last element and she will lose. If Alice erases 2 first, now nums become [1, 1]. The bitwise XOR of all the elements of the chalkboard is 1 XOR 1 = 0. Alice will lose. Example 2: Input: nums = [0,1] Output: true Example 3: Input: nums = [1,2,3] Output: true Constraints: 1 <= nums.length <= 1000 0 <= nums[i] < 216

Topics: Array, Math, Bit Manipulation, Brainteaser, Game Theory

Problem #4: Jump Game II

You are given a 0-indexed array of integers nums of length n. You are initially positioned at nums[0]. Each element nums[i] represents the maximum length of a forward jump from index i. In other words, if you are at nums[i], you can jump to any nums[i + j] where: 0 <= j <= nums[i] and i + j < n Return the minimum number of jumps to reach nums[n - 1]. The test cases are generated such that you can reach nums[n - 1]. Example 1: Input: nums = [2,3,1,1,4] Output: 2 Explanation: The minimum number of jumps to reach the last index is 2. Jump 1 step from index 0 to 1, then 3 steps to the last index. Example 2: Input: nums = [2,3,0,1,4] Output: 2 Constraints: 1 <= nums.length <= 104 0 <= nums[i] <= 1000 It's guaranteed that you can reach nums[n - 1].

Topics: Array, Dynamic Programming, Greedy

Problem #5: Jump Game

You are given an integer array nums. You are initially positioned at the array's first index, and each element in the array represents your maximum jump length at that position. Return true if you can reach the last index, or false otherwise. Example 1: Input: nums = [2,3,1,1,4] Output: true Explanation: Jump 1 step from index 0 to 1, then 3 steps to the last index. Example 2: Input: nums = [3,2,1,0,4] Output: false Explanation: You will always arrive at index 3 no matter what. Its maximum jump length is 0, which makes it impossible to reach the last index. Constraints: 1 <= nums.length <= 104 0 <= nums[i] <= 105

Topics: Array, Dynamic Programming, Greedy

Problem #6: Beautiful Arrangement

Suppose you have n integers labeled 1 through n. A permutation of those n integers perm (1-indexed) is considered a beautiful arrangement if for every i (1 <= i <= n), either of the following is true: perm[i] is divisible by i. i is divisible by perm[i]. Given an integer n, return the number of the beautiful arrangements that you can construct. Example 1: Input: n = 2 Output: 2 Explanation: The first beautiful arrangement is [1,2]: - perm[1] = 1 is divisible by i = 1 - perm[2] = 2 is divisible by i = 2 The second beautiful arrangement is [2,1]: - perm[1] = 2 is divisible by i = 1 - i = 2 is divisible by perm[2] = 1 Example 2: Input: n = 1 Output: 1 Constraints: 1 <= n <= 15

Topics: Array, Dynamic Programming, Backtracking, Bit Manipulation, Bitmask

Problem #7: Number of Islands

Given an m x n 2D binary grid grid which represents a map of '1's (land) and '0's (water), return the number of islands. An island is surrounded by water and is formed by connecting adjacent lands horizontally or vertically. You may assume all four edges of the grid are all surrounded by water. Example 1: Input: grid = [ ["1","1","1","1","0"], ["1","1","0","1","0"], ["1","1","0","0","0"], ["0","0","0","0","0"] ] Output: 1 Example 2: Input: grid = [ ["1","1","0","0","0"], ["1","1","0","0","0"], ["0","0","1","0","0"], ["0","0","0","1","1"] ] Output: 3 Constraints: m == grid.length n == grid[i].length 1 <= m, n <= 300 grid[i][j] is '0' or '1'.

Topics: Array, Depth-First Search, Breadth-First Search, Union Find, Matrix