Find next greater element for subset
Company: Temu
Role: Software Engineer
Category: Coding & Algorithms
Difficulty: easy
Interview Round: Onsite
You are given two integer arrays `query` and `nums`.
- All elements in `nums` are distinct.
- Every element in `query` also appears in `nums`.
For each value `x` in `query`, find the **next greater element** of `x` in `nums`: the first element to the right of `x`'s position in `nums` that is strictly greater than `x`. If no such element exists, return `-1` for that `x`.
Return an array `ans` of the same length as `query`, where `ans[i]` is the next greater element for `query[i]`.
Example:
- `query = [4, 1, 2]`, `nums = [1, 3, 4, 2]` → `ans = [-1, 3, -1]`
Overview: This question evaluates understanding of sequence analysis and array-processing competencies, including mapping elements between arrays, index lookup, and designing efficient order-dependent algorithms for the "next greater element" problem.
Read the full Temu Software Engineer interview experience this question came from
For each query value, return the first greater value to its right in nums, or -1.
Examples
Input: ([4, 1, 2], [1, 3, 4, 2])
Expected Output: [-1, 3, -1]
Explanation: Prompt example.
Input: ([2, 4], [1, 2, 3, 4])
Expected Output: [3, -1]
Explanation: One has no greater.