Merge Two Sorted arrays
Last updated: November 26, 2025
Quick Overview
Given k sorted strings, merge them into a single sorted result.
Goldman Sachs
Coding & Algorithms
Software Engineer
Goldman Sachs
November 26, 2025Software Engineer
Phone Screen
Coding & Algorithms
Easy
27
14
2,278 solved
Given k sorted strings, merge them into a single sorted result.
Goldman Sachs 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
- 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
Edge cases and input validation
Time and space complexity analysis
Sorting and searching
Dynamic programming and memoization
Common algorithm patterns (sliding window, two pointers, BFS/DFS)
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 parallelize this solution?
- What happens if the input contains duplicates?
- What if the input doesn't fit in memory?
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Practice DSA ProblemsSample Answer
Problem Analysis
To merge k sorted strings into a single sorted result, we can leverage the Min-Heap (or priority queue) data structure. This approach is beneficial here because it allows us to efficiently retriev...
Approach
- Initialize a Min-Heap: We'll start by inserting the first string of each of the k sorted strings into the heap.
- Extract the Minimum: Continuously extract the smallest string from the hea...
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