Compute minimum rooms for meeting schedule
Company: IBM
Role: Software Engineer
Category: Coding & Algorithms
Difficulty: nan
Interview Round: Technical Screen
## Problem
You are given a list of meetings, where each meeting is represented as a pair of integers `[start, end]` (with `start < end`) indicating the meeting start time (inclusive) and end time (exclusive).
Return the minimum number of conference rooms required so that all meetings can take place without overlaps in the same room.
### Input
- `meetingTimings`: `List<List<Integer>>`, where each inner list has exactly two integers `[start, end]`.
### Output
- An integer: the minimum number of rooms required.
### Notes / Assumptions
- If one meeting ends at time `t` and another starts at time `t`, they do **not** overlap and can use the same room.
- The input may be unsorted.
### Example
- Input: `[[0, 30], [5, 10], [15, 20]]`
- Output: `2`
### Constraints (reasonable interview assumptions)
- `1 <= n <= 10^5`
- Time values fit in 32-bit integers.
Quick Answer: This question evaluates a candidate's competency in interval-based scheduling and resource allocation, assessing understanding of overlapping time intervals and the management of concurrent events.
Return the minimum number of rooms needed for all half-open meeting intervals.
Constraints
- Inputs are Python literals matching the function signature.
- Return a deterministic exact-match value.
Examples
Input: ([[0,30],[5,10],[15,20]],)
Expected Output: 2
Explanation: Prompt example.
Input: ([[1,2],[2,3],[3,4]],)
Expected Output: 1
Explanation: Touching intervals reuse one room.
Input: ([],)
Expected Output: 0
Explanation: No meetings.
Hints
- Pick a representation that makes the requested operation direct.
- Handle empty inputs and boundary cases first.