How do I approach Coding & Algorithms interview questions?

Coding & Algorithms questions require understanding of core concepts and practice. PracHub provides solutions with explanations to help you master coding & algorithms interviews.

What difficulty level is this interview question?

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

What role is this question designed for?

This question is commonly asked for Software Engineer candidates at Salesforce during technical interviews.

Minimize steps to reduce integer | Salesforce Interview Question

Q: Minimize steps to reduce integer

This question evaluates algorithm design skills and proficiency with integer operations and decision-making under parity constraints, testing competencies such as bitwise reasoning, greedy and dynamic-programming intuition, and complexity analysis.

Given a positive integer n (1 <= n <= 2^61 - 1), in one step you may replace n with n/2 if n is even, or with n+1 or n-1 if n is odd. Return the minimum number of steps to reduce n to 1. Explain your algorithm, justify how you decide between n+1 and n-1 for odd n, and analyze time complexity.

Minimize steps to reduce integer

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