Apply sliding window techniques
Company: NVIDIA
Role: Software Engineer
Category: Coding & Algorithms
Difficulty: Medium
Interview Round: Onsite
Explain the sliding window technique and apply it to solve:
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1) Given an array of positive integers and a target S, return the minimal length of a contiguous subarray with sum ≥ S (or 0 if none);
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2) Given a string and an integer K, return the length of the longest substring containing at most K distinct characters; Analyze time and space complexity and when to use fixed vs. dynamic windows.
Quick Answer: This question evaluates a candidate's understanding and application of the sliding window technique for array and string problems, including designing fixed versus dynamic windows, algorithmic complexity analysis, and handling constraints for contiguous sums and distinct-character counts.