Distribute Money Fairly Under Recipient Caps
Last updated: August 1, 2026
Quick Overview
The question asks the candidate to devise an algorithm that fairly distributes a given amount of money among recipients, each with their own maximum cap on how much they can receive.
Gusto
August 1, 20260
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14 solved
The question asks the candidate to devise an algorithm that fairly distributes a given amount of money among recipients, each with their own maximum cap on how much they can receive.
This question is typically asked during the onsite coding round to evaluate a candidate's problem-solving and algorithmic skills. The interviewer is looking for the ability to think critically about resource allocation, handle edge cases, and implement a solution efficiently. It tests both the candidate's coding ability and their understanding of fairness in distribution algorithms.
What the Interviewer Expects
- Clearly define the problem and constraints.
- Outline a structured approach to the solution.
- Implement a working algorithm with proper edge case handling.
- Discuss time and space complexity of the solution.
- Provide test cases to validate the solution.
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 you modify your solution for different distribution rules?
- Can you explain how your algorithm handles edge cases?
- What would you do if the total amount of money is less than the sum of all caps?
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Practice DSA ProblemsSample Answer
Approach
To solve the problem of distributing money fairly under recipient caps, we need to take the following steps:
- Define the inputs: total amount of money to distribute and a list of recipient caps....
Algorithm
Here is a Python implementation of the algorithm:
def distribute_money(total_amount, caps):
total_caps = sum(caps)
if total_amount >= total_caps:
return caps # Everyone gets...
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