Sliding Window on graph
Last updated: January 13, 2026
Quick Overview
Given a graph represented as an adjacency list, implement a sliding window technique to find the maximum sum of weights of any contiguous subgraph of a specified size. Your function should take the graph and the window size as input and return the maximum sum found. Ensure your solution efficiently handles large graphs to meet the problem's complexity requirements.
ServiceNow
January 13, 20266
15
1,011 solved
Given a graph represented as an adjacency list, implement a sliding window technique to find the maximum sum of weights of any contiguous subgraph of a specified size. Your function should take the graph and the window size as input and return the maximum sum found. Ensure your solution efficiently handles large graphs to meet the problem's complexity requirements.
This coding problem is frequently asked during Technical Screen at ServiceNow. The interviewer is testing your ability to translate a problem into clean, working code while discussing time and space complexity. ServiceNow expects candidates to write production-quality code, not just solve the puzzle.
What the Interviewer Expects
- Quickly identify the optimal approach and its theoretical basis
- Handle complex algorithm design with multiple interacting components
- Write concise, elegant code under time pressure
- Prove correctness of your approach and discuss alternative solutions
- Optimize beyond the obvious: discuss constant factor improvements
- Address follow-up variations and explain how the solution generalizes
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 test this solution thoroughly?
- How would your solution change if the input was sorted?
- What is the worst-case input for your solution?
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Practice DSA ProblemsSample Answer
Problem Analysis
This problem can be effectively solved using the sliding window technique. In this context, the sliding window allows us to maintain a contiguous subgraph of a specified size while efficiently calcula...
Approach
- Initialization: Start by creating a variable to hold the maximum sum found, initially set to zero. Also, initialize a variable to track the current sum of weights.
- **Iterate through the gra...
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