Minimum Window Substring

Last updated: June 17, 2026

Quick Overview

Given strings s and t, find the minimum window in s containing all characters of t. Tests the sliding window pattern with hash map tracking.

Google
Coding & Algorithms
Software Engineer
Google
June 17, 2026
Software Engineer
Onsite
Coding & Algorithms
Hard

261

0

159 solved


Given strings s and t, find the minimum window in s containing all characters of t. Tests the sliding window pattern with hash map tracking.

How to Approach This
  1. Clarify input constraints and edge cases before writing code.
  2. Walk through your approach verbally and confirm with the interviewer before coding.
  3. Start with a brute force solution, then optimize. Mention time and space complexity.
  4. Test your solution with examples, including edge cases like empty input or duplicates.
  5. Consider common patterns: sliding window, two pointers, hash map, BFS/DFS, dynamic programming.
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Sample Answer
Problem Analysis

The Minimum Window Substring problem requires us to find the smallest substring in s that contains all characters of t. This can effectively be solved using the sliding window technique combined w...

Approach
  1. Initialize Data Structures: Use a hash map to keep track of the frequency of characters in t. Also, maintain a count of how many unique characters from t are currently in the window of s....

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