Count minimum cost in array
Last updated: April 13, 2026
Quick Overview
Given an array of integers representing costs, write a function to calculate the minimum cost to reach the end of the array, where you can only move to adjacent elements. The function should return the minimum cost as an integer.
Adobe
April 13, 2026244
14
2,813 solved
Given an array of integers representing costs, write a function to calculate the minimum cost to reach the end of the array, where you can only move to adjacent elements. The function should return the minimum cost as an integer.
Adobe uses this problem in the Phone Screen 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
- Recognize the underlying problem pattern (sliding window, two pointers, BFS/DFS, etc.)
- Discuss multiple approaches and trade-offs before coding
- Implement an optimal solution with clean, production-quality code
- Handle all edge cases including boundary conditions and invalid input
- Optimize both time and space complexity with clear justification
- Test your solution systematically with well-chosen examples
Key Topics to Cover
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
- What happens if the input contains duplicates?
- Can you solve this in a single pass?
- How would you parallelize this solution?
- How would you modify your solution to handle streaming input?
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Practice DSA ProblemsSample Answer
Problem Analysis
The problem requires us to find the minimum cost to reach the end of an array, where each element in the array represents a cost and we can only move to adjacent elements (i.e., from index i to inde...
Approach
- Initialization: Create a cost array
dpwheredp[i]represents the minimum cost to reach indexi. Initializedp[0]tocost[0]since the starting point does not incur any additional cos...
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