Count Regions in a Binary Grid
Company: Illumio
Role: Software Engineer
Category: Coding & Algorithms
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Onsite
Given an `m x n` grid where `1` represents land and `0` represents water, count how many connected land regions exist. Two land cells belong to the same region if they are connected horizontally or vertically.
Write a function that returns the number of distinct regions. Also discuss the time and space complexity of your approach.
Quick Answer: This question evaluates understanding of grid-as-graph representations, identification of connected components, and competency in algorithmic problem-solving with attention to time and space complexity.