Micro-Drill #250 — Interview problem-solving framework

INTERVIEW PROBLEM-SOLVING FRAMEWORK
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STEP 1: UNDERSTAND (2-3 min)
  □ Restate the problem in your own words
  □ Ask clarifying questions (edge cases, constraints)
  □ Walk through 1-2 examples by hand
  □ Confirm input/output format

STEP 2: PLAN (3-5 min)
  □ Identify pattern (see checklist below)
  □ State approach in plain English
  □ Discuss time/space complexity BEFORE coding
  □ Get interviewer buy-in

STEP 3: CODE (10-15 min)
  □ Write clean, modular code
  □ Use descriptive variable names
  □ Talk while coding

STEP 4: VERIFY (3-5 min)
  □ Trace through your example
  □ Test edge cases: empty, single element, all same
  □ Fix bugs calmly

PATTERN CHECKLIST:
  Sorted array?     → binary search or two pointers
  All subsets/perms? → backtracking
  Optimal value?    → DP or greedy
  Tree/graph?       → DFS or BFS
  Top-k?            → heap
  Stream/window?    → sliding window
  Parentheses?      → stack