Shortest Grid Path with Obstacle Eliminations
Last updated: August 30, 2026
Quick Overview
This question asks the candidate to discuss the approach to finding the shortest path in a grid while considering obstacles that can be eliminated.
Mercor
August 30, 20261
0
21 solved
This question asks the candidate to discuss the approach to finding the shortest path in a grid while considering obstacles that can be eliminated.
This question is typically asked during the technical screen to evaluate the candidate's problem-solving skills and understanding of algorithms. The interviewer is interested in how well the candidate can articulate their thought process, the efficiency of their proposed solution, and their ability to handle edge cases and constraints.
What the Interviewer Expects
- Clearly explain the problem and constraints.
- Outline a high-level approach to the solution.
- Discuss potential algorithms and their complexities.
- Identify edge cases and how to handle them.
- Consider trade-offs between different approaches.
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 optimize your solution further?
- What would you do if the grid size increased significantly?
- Can you explain a scenario where your approach might fail?
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Practice DSA ProblemsSample Answer
Framing
To solve the problem of finding the shortest path in a grid with obstacles, we need to consider both the layout of the grid and the obstacles that can be eliminated. The challenge lies in efficiently ...
Approach
A suitable approach for this problem is to use a Breadth-First Search (BFS) algorithm, which is effective for finding the shortest path in unweighted grids. We can maintain a queue to explore each cel...
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