Validate grid symmetric
Last updated: February 11, 2026
Quick Overview
Given a 2D grid of integers, write a function to determine if the grid is symmetric about its center. The grid is considered symmetric if the elements are equal when reflected across both the vertical and horizontal axes. The function should return a boolean value: true if the grid is symmetric, and false otherwise.
Elastic
February 11, 20268
11
4,736 solved
Given a 2D grid of integers, write a function to determine if the grid is symmetric about its center. The grid is considered symmetric if the elements are equal when reflected across both the vertical and horizontal axes. The function should return a boolean value: true if the grid is symmetric, and false otherwise.
Coding interviews at Elastic 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?
- How would you modify your solution to handle streaming input?
- How would you test this solution thoroughly?
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Problem Analysis
To determine whether the grid is symmetric about its center, we can use a two-pointer technique. The idea is to compare elements of the grid in a mirrored fashion: for an element at position (i, j), w...
Approach
- First, check if the grid is empty or if it contains no rows. If true, return true since an empty grid is trivially symmetric.
- Calculate the number of rows (n) and columns (m) in the grid.
- Loo...
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