Validate grid complete
Last updated: February 14, 2026
Quick Overview
Given a 2D grid filled with '0's and '1's, write a function to validate if the grid is complete, meaning that every row and column must contain at least one '1'. The function should return a boolean value indicating whether the grid meets this condition.
Scale AI
February 14, 202645
6
4,978 solved
Given a 2D grid filled with '0's and '1's, write a function to validate if the grid is complete, meaning that every row and column must contain at least one '1'. The function should return a boolean value indicating whether the grid meets this condition.
Scale AI uses this problem in the Take-home Project 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
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
- Can you solve this in a single pass?
- How would you test this solution thoroughly?
- What if the input doesn't fit in memory?
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Practice DSA ProblemsSample Answer
Problem Analysis
The problem requires validating whether every row and column in a 2D grid contains at least one '1'. This setup suggests a systematic approach to check each row and column, which can be efficiently ha...
Approach
- Initialization: Create two lists,
row_checkandcolumn_check, both initialized toFalse, to keep track of whether each row and column has at least one '1'. The length of these lists will ...
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