Merge Two Sorted arrays
Last updated: October 17, 2025
Quick Overview
Given three sorted linked lists, merge them into a single sorted result.
Netflix
Coding & Algorithms
Software Engineer
Netflix
October 17, 2025Software Engineer
Onsite
Coding & Algorithms
Medium
36
9
4,263 solved
Given three sorted linked lists, merge them into a single sorted result.
Netflix uses this problem in the Onsite 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
Sorting and searching
Time and space complexity analysis
Edge cases and input validation
Graph algorithms and traversal
Binary search and divide and conquer
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 test this solution thoroughly?
- What if the input doesn't fit in memory?
- Can you solve this iteratively instead of recursively (or vice versa)?
- What happens if the input contains duplicates?
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Practice DSA ProblemsSample Answer
Problem Analysis
This problem can be effectively approached using the Two Pointers technique. Each of the three linked lists is already sorted, which allows us to leverage this property to merge them efficiently. ...
Approach
- Initialize Pointers: Start with three pointers, each pointing to the head of the three linked lists (let's call them
list1,list2,list3). Also, create a dummy node to simplify the merged...
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