Count minimum cost in array
Last updated: February 24, 2026
Quick Overview
Given an array of integers, calculate the minimum cost to convert all elements to the same value. The cost to change an element is defined as the absolute difference between the element and the target value. Your function should return the minimum total cost for all elements to become equal.
Datadog
February 24, 20265
14
4,203 solved
Given an array of integers, calculate the minimum cost to convert all elements to the same value. The cost to change an element is defined as the absolute difference between the element and the target value. Your function should return the minimum total cost for all elements to become equal.
Coding interviews at Datadog focus on problem-solving approach as much as the final solution. The interviewer wants to see you break down the problem, consider edge cases, and optimize iteratively. Communication throughout the process is key.
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
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
- Can you solve this in a single pass?
- Can you optimize the space complexity of your solution?
- Can you solve this iteratively instead of recursively (or vice versa)?
- How would you parallelize this solution?
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Problem Analysis
To solve the problem of finding the minimum cost to convert all elements of an array to the same value, we can observe that the absolute difference cost function behaves in a way that it's minimized a...
Approach
- Sort the Array: Start by sorting the input array. For example, given the array
[1, 3, 2, 6], sorting it gives[1, 2, 3, 6]. - Find the Median: Identify the median of the sorted array. ...
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