Count cycle in grid
Last updated: November 22, 2025
Quick Overview
Count the number of minimum cost in the given grid.
Neon
Coding & Algorithms
Software Engineer
Neon
November 22, 2025Software Engineer
Onsite
Coding & Algorithms
Easy
7
5
90 solved
Count the number of minimum cost in the given grid.
Neon uses this problem in the Onsite to evaluate your algorithmic thinking. They expect you to discuss multiple approaches, analyze trade-offs between them, and implement the optimal solution with clean, readable code.
What the Interviewer Expects
- Identify the correct data structure and algorithm for the problem
- Write clean, bug-free code with proper variable naming
- Analyze time and space complexity correctly
- Handle basic edge cases (empty input, single element)
- Communicate your thought process while coding
Key Topics to Cover
Binary search and divide and conquer
Sorting and searching
Edge cases and input validation
Common algorithm patterns (sliding window, two pointers, BFS/DFS)
Hash maps and frequency counting
Dynamic programming and memoization
How to Approach This
- Clarify input constraints and edge cases before writing code.
- Walk through your approach verbally and confirm with the interviewer before coding.
- Start with a brute force solution, then optimize. Mention time and space complexity.
- Test your solution with examples, including edge cases like empty input or duplicates.
- Consider common patterns: sliding window, two pointers, hash map, BFS/DFS, dynamic programming.
Possible Follow-up Questions
- How would you parallelize this solution?
- What happens if the input contains duplicates?
- Can you solve this in a single pass?
- Can you solve this iteratively instead of recursively (or vice versa)?
Sharpen Your Skills on Codemia
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Practice DSA ProblemsSample Answer
Problem Analysis
To count the number of minimum cost cycles in a grid, we need to identify the unique cycles and their associated costs. The problem is best approached using Depth-First Search (DFS), as we can tra...
Approach
- Initialize Variables: Create a visited matrix to track which cells have been counted in a cycle. Use a list to store the costs of each cycle.
- Iterate Through Grid: Loop through each cell...
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