Find minimum cost in linked list
Last updated: October 12, 2025
Quick Overview
Given a linked list where each node contains a cost value, write a function to find the minimum cost among all nodes in the linked list. The function should return the minimum cost as an integer. Ensure that your solution efficiently traverses the linked list.
Stripe
October 12, 202550
11
971 solved
Given a linked list where each node contains a cost value, write a function to find the minimum cost among all nodes in the linked list. The function should return the minimum cost as an integer. Ensure that your solution efficiently traverses the linked list.
Coding interviews at Stripe 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
- 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
- Can you optimize the space complexity of your solution?
- How would you parallelize this solution?
- Can you solve this in a single pass?
- How would you modify your solution to handle streaming input?
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Problem Analysis
In this problem, we need to find the minimum cost among all nodes in a linked list. The linked list can be traversed using a simple linear scan, which is appropriate because we can access each node se...
Approach
- Initialize a variable,
min_cost, to a large value (e.g., infinity). - Start with the head of the linked list and traverse each node using a loop.
- For each node, compare the current node's...
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