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This is a medium difficulty Coding & Algorithms question, commonly asked during Technical Screen rounds at LinkedIn.

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This question is commonly asked for Data Scientist candidates at LinkedIn during technical interviews.

Find index with positive suffix sums

Last updated: Mar 29, 2026

Quick Overview

This question evaluates array manipulation and algorithmic problem-solving skills, focusing on reasoning about cumulative (suffix) sums and time-complexity analysis. Commonly asked in the Coding & Algorithms domain because it probes efficiency and optimization over naive approaches, it targets practical, implementation-level understanding rather than purely conceptual theory.

Feb 19, 2026, 12:00 AM

Data Scientist

Technical Screen

Coding & Algorithms

Given an unsorted integer array $A$ , find an index $i$ such that every cumulative sum starting from $i$ to the end of the array is strictly positive:

$A[i] > 0$
$A[i] + A[i+1] > 0$
$A[i] + A[i+1] + A[i+2] > 0$
...
$\sum_{k=i}^{n-1} A[k] > 0$

Return any valid index. If no such index exists, return $-1$ .

First describe a baseline solution, then optimize it. Aim for better than $O(n^2)$ time.

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