Daily Coding Problem: Problem #1448 [Medium]

Good morning! Here's your coding interview problem for today.

This problem was asked by LinkedIn.

A wall consists of several rows of bricks of various integer lengths and uniform height. Your goal is to find a vertical line going from the top to the bottom of the wall that cuts through the fewest number of bricks. If the line goes through the edge between two bricks, this does not count as a cut.

For example, suppose the input is as follows, where values in each row represent the lengths of bricks in that row:

[[3, 5, 1, 1],
 [2, 3, 3, 2],
 [5, 5],
 [4, 4, 2],
 [1, 3, 3, 3],
 [1, 1, 6, 1, 1]]

The best we can we do here is to draw a line after the eighth brick, which will only require cutting through the bricks in the third and fifth row.

Given an input consisting of brick lengths for each row such as the one above, return the fewest number of bricks that must be cut to create a vertical line.

Upgrade to premium and get in-depth solutions to every problem, including this one. Since you were referred by one of our affiliates, you'll get a 10% discount on checkout!

If you liked this problem, feel free to forward it along so they can subscribe here! As always, shoot us an email if there's anything we can help with!

Practice makes perfect. Book a mock interview with a FAANG-level interviewer today from our friends at Exponent (10% off!).

System design interviews are becoming more popular in SWE interviews. Here's how to prepare.

No more? Snooze or unsubscribe.