Remove elements to avoid k-prefix duplicates
Company: Google
Role: Software Engineer
Category: Coding & Algorithms
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Onsite
##### Question
Given two lists listA and listB and an integer k, delete elements from listB so that the first k elements of the new listB share no value with the first k elements of listA. Follow-up: design an O(n) time solution. Follow-up: extend to a list of lists, an integer k, and an integer d such that for each list its first k elements share no value with the first k elements of any of the previous d lists.
Quick Answer: This question evaluates algorithmic design and data-structure proficiency in the Coding & Algorithms domain, focusing on list and sequence manipulation with uniqueness constraints and attention to time complexity. It is commonly asked because it measures practical ability to implement efficient (e.g.