Detect anagram in matrix
Last updated: February 2, 2026
Quick Overview
Given a 2D matrix of characters, write a function to detect all occurrences of anagrams of a given string within the matrix. The function should return the starting coordinates (row, column) of each occurrence found, or an empty list if no anagrams are present. The search should consider horizontal, vertical, and diagonal directions.
HRT
February 2, 202631
3
897 solved
Given a 2D matrix of characters, write a function to detect all occurrences of anagrams of a given string within the matrix. The function should return the starting coordinates (row, column) of each occurrence found, or an empty list if no anagrams are present. The search should consider horizontal, vertical, and diagonal directions.
HRT uses this problem in the Take-home Project 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
- How would your solution change if the input was sorted?
- What happens if the input contains duplicates?
- Can you solve this in a single pass?
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Practice DSA ProblemsSample Answer
Problem Analysis
To detect anagrams of a given string within a 2D matrix of characters, we need to identify occurrences of the string's characters in various directions: horizontally, vertically, and diagonally. The u...
Approach
- Initialize Variables: Create a list to store coordinates of found anagrams. Get the sorted version of the target string to compare against.
- Matrix Traversal: Loop through each cell in th...
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