Algorithms Interview Questions

1. Reverse a Linked List

Question: How do you reverse a singly linked list in Python?

Iterative approach:

class ListNode:
    def __init__(self, val=0, next=None):
        self.val = val
        self.next = next

def reverseList(head):
    prev = None
    curr = head
    while curr:
        next_temp = curr.next
        curr.next = prev
        prev = curr
        curr = next_temp
    return prev

2. Binary Search

Question: Implement binary search on a sorted array.

def binary_search(arr, target):
    left, right = 0, len(arr) - 1
    while left <= right:
        mid = (left + right) // 2
        if arr[mid] == target:
            return mid
        elif arr[mid] < target:
            left = mid + 1
        else:
            right = mid - 1
    return -1

3. Two Sum

Question: Given an array of integers and a target, return indices of the two numbers such that they add up to target.

def two_sum(nums, target):
    seen = {}
    for i, num in enumerate(nums):
        complement = target - num
        if complement in seen:
            return [seen[complement], i]
        seen[num] = i
    return []

4. Valid Parentheses

Question: Given a string containing just the characters '(', ')', '{', '}', '[' and ']', determine if the input string is valid.

def isValid(s):
    stack = []
    mapping = {")": "(", "}": "{", "]": "["}
    for char in s:
        if char in mapping:
            top_element = stack.pop() if stack else '#'
            if mapping[char] != top_element:
                return False
        else:
            stack.append(char)
    return not stack

5. Merge Intervals

Question: Given an array of intervals where intervals[i] = [start, end], merge all overlapping intervals.

def merge(intervals):
    intervals.sort(key=lambda x: x[0])
    merged = []
    for interval in intervals:
        if not merged or merged[-1][1] < interval[0]:
            merged.append(interval)
        else:
            merged[-1][1] = max(merged[-1][1], interval[1])
    return merged

6. Maximum Subarray (Kadane's Algorithm)

Question: Find the contiguous subarray (containing at least one number) which has the largest sum.

def maxSubArray(nums):
    max_so_far = nums[0]
    current_max = nums[0]
    for i in range(1, len(nums)):
        current_max = max(nums[i], current_max + nums[i])
        max_so_far = max(max_so_far, current_max)
    return max_so_far

7. Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters

Question: Find the length of the longest substring without repeating characters.

def lengthOfLongestSubstring(s):
    char_map = {}
    left = 0
    max_len = 0
    for right in range(len(s)):
        if s[right] in char_map:
            left = max(left, char_map[s[right]] + 1)
        char_map[s[right]] = right
        max_len = max(max_len, right - left + 1)
    return max_len