Sliding Window on graph
Last updated: August 13, 2025
Quick Overview
Given a graph represented as an adjacency list, implement a sliding window technique to find the maximum number of nodes that can be visited within a specified distance from a starting node. Your function should take the graph, the starting node, and the distance as input, and return the count of reachable nodes within that distance.
Neon
August 13, 20259
11
3,144 solved
Given a graph represented as an adjacency list, implement a sliding window technique to find the maximum number of nodes that can be visited within a specified distance from a starting node. Your function should take the graph, the starting node, and the distance as input, and return the count of reachable nodes within that distance.
Coding interviews at Neon 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
- 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
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 your solution change if the input was sorted?
- What happens if the input contains duplicates?
- How would you test this solution thoroughly?
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Practice DSA ProblemsSample Answer
Problem Analysis
In this problem, we need to traverse a graph represented as an adjacency list to find the maximum number of nodes that can be visited within a specified distance from a starting node. The sliding wind...
Approach
- Initialize a queue for BFS and a set to keep track of visited nodes.
- Start by adding the starting node to the queue along with a distance of 0.
- While the queue is not empty, perform the f...
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