Sliding Window Approach Explained
what is sliding window? and how many such approaches are there in data structures one should
learn to solve these types of interview coding questions
The Sliding Window technique is an optimization strategy used to reduce the time complexity of
problems involving arrays or strings. It is particularly useful when dealing with contiguous subarrays
or substrings and helps avoid redundant computations.
🔹 What is the Sliding Window Technique?
Instead of recalculating values for each subarray (which can be inefficient), we maintain a "window" that
slides over the data structure. This window expands or contracts dynamically, allowing efficient
computation in O(n) instead of O(n²) in many cases.
🔹 Types of Sliding Window Approaches
There are mainly two types:
1️⃣ Fixed-size Sliding Window
The window has a fixed size `k` and slides one element at a time.
Used in problems like finding the maximum sum of `k` consecutive elements, counting
occurrences in a subarray, etc.
Example:
Finding the maximum sum of any `k` consecutive elements in an array.
2️⃣ Variable-size Sliding Window
The window size expands or contracts dynamically based on some condition.
Used in problems like finding the smallest/largest subarray satisfying a condition, longest
substring with `k` distinct characters, etc.
Example:
Finding the smallest subarray with a sum greater than or equal to `S`.
🔹 Sliding Window Problems in Interview Questions
Here are a few problems that use this technique:
1. Maximum sum of k consecutive elements (Fixed-size)
2. Longest substring with k distinct characters (Variable-size)
3. Smallest subarray with sum ≥ S (Variable-size)
4. Longest subarray with sum exactly `K`
5. Find all anagrams of a string in another string
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6. Maximum of all subarrays of size `k` (Deque approach)
Would you like to see an example implementation in Python? 🚀
how many such techniques are there?
There are several coding techniques that help in solving array, string, and dynamic programming
problems efficiently. If you're preparing for interviews, here are some of the most important
techniques to master:
1️⃣ Sliding Window
Optimizes problems involving contiguous subarrays/substrings.
Types: Fixed-size & Variable-size.
Example Problems:
Longest substring without repeating characters.
Maximum sum of `k` consecutive elements.
2️⃣ Two Pointers
Uses two indices to traverse a data structure efficiently.
Types: Opposite-direction & Same-direction.
Example Problems:
Two sum (sorted array).
Checking if a string is a palindrome.
Merging two sorted arrays.
3️⃣ Prefix Sum & Difference Array
Prefix Sum: Precompute cumulative sums to answer range sum queries in O(1).
Difference Array: Used for efficient range updates.
Example Problems:
Range sum query in an array.
Compute the number of subarrays with sum `K`.
4️⃣ Hashing & Frequency Maps
Uses hash tables (dictionaries) to store counts or track visited elements.
Example Problems:
Finding duplicates in an array.
Finding anagrams of a string.
Longest subarray with sum `K`.
5️⃣ Binary Search on Answer (Parametric Search)
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Used when the problem asks for minimum/maximum possible value satisfying a condition.
Example Problems:
Find the smallest/largest `X` that satisfies a given condition.
Minimum length of the subarray with sum `>= K`.
Allocate books problem.
6️⃣ Two Heaps (Min-Heap & Max-Heap)
Used when we need to maintain the median or top K elements dynamically.
Example Problems:
Find median of a running stream.
Kth largest element in a stream.
7️⃣ Monotonic Stack & Monotonic Queue
Maintains elements in increasing or decreasing order for optimization.
Example Problems:
Next Greater Element (NGE).
Maximum of all subarrays of size `k` (using Deque).
8️⃣ Bit Manipulation
Used for problems involving XOR, AND, OR, bit shifts.
Example Problems:
Find the single non-repeating number in an array.
Count set bits in an integer.
9️⃣ Kadane’s Algorithm
Optimized approach to find maximum subarray sum in O(n).
Example Problem:
Maximum sum subarray in an array.
🔟 Dynamic Programming (DP) Optimization Techniques
Sliding Window + DP (for problems like Longest Increasing Subsequence).
Bitmask DP (for subset problems).
State Compression DP (for problems with large constraints).
How Many Techniques to Learn for Interviews?
If you're preparing for FAANG/Big Tech, I recommend mastering at least these 10 techniques along
with Graph Algorithms like BFS/DFS, Dijkstra’s Algorithm, and Union-Find.
Would you like to see problems for each technique? Or an example implementation? 🚀
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like to see problems for each technique
Here’s a list of problems for each of the major coding techniques you should know for interviews.
These problems will help you master each technique and develop problem-solving skills.
1️⃣ Sliding Window
Concept: Optimize contiguous subarray/substring problems.
✅ Problems:
1. Maximum sum of `k` consecutive elements (Fixed-size Window)
2. Smallest subarray with sum ≥ S (Variable-size Window)
3. Longest substring without repeating characters
4. Find all anagrams of a string in another string
5. Maximum of all subarrays of size `k` (Deque-based optimization)
2️⃣ Two Pointers
Concept: Use two pointers to optimize searching and traversing problems.
✅ Problems:
1. Two sum in a sorted array
2. Check if a string is a palindrome
3. Merge two sorted arrays without extra space
4. Remove duplicates from a sorted array
5. Find the intersection of two sorted arrays
3️⃣ Prefix Sum & Difference Array
Concept: Use precomputed sums or difference arrays to speed up range queries.
✅ Problems:
1. Range sum query in an array (Prefix Sum)
2. Find the number of subarrays with sum = K
3. Compute the number of even/odd numbers in a given range
4. Apply multiple range updates efficiently (Difference Array)
4️⃣ Hashing & Frequency Maps
Concept: Store counts or track visited elements for fast lookups.
✅ Problems:
1. Find the first non-repeating character in a string
2. Find duplicates in an array
3. Find the longest subarray with sum `K`
4. Find anagrams in a string using frequency maps
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5. Find two numbers that sum to `K` in an unsorted array
5️⃣ Binary Search on Answer (Parametric Search)
Concept: Used when finding the smallest/largest valid value.
✅ Problems:
1. Find the smallest `X` that satisfies a condition
2. Minimum length of subarray with sum `>= K`
3. Kth smallest/largest element in an array
4. Allocate books to students (Minimum pages problem)
5. Find the minimum maximum sum of `m` subarrays
6️⃣ Two Heaps (Min-Heap & Max-Heap)
Concept: Maintain two heaps for median-finding or top-K problems.
✅ Problems:
1. Find the median of a running stream
2. Kth largest element in a stream
3. Merge `K` sorted arrays
4. Find the smallest range covering elements from `K` lists
5. Top K frequent elements in an array
7️⃣ Monotonic Stack & Monotonic Queue
Concept: Use a stack/queue that maintains elements in increasing or decreasing order.
✅ Problems:
1. Next Greater Element (NGE)
2. Largest Rectangle in Histogram
3. Trapping Rain Water
4. Maximum of all subarrays of size `k` (Sliding Window Maximum)
5. Stock Span Problem
8️⃣ Bit Manipulation
Concept: Use XOR, AND, OR, and bit shifts for optimization.
✅ Problems:
1. Find the single non-repeating number in an array (XOR trick)
2. Count the number of set bits in an integer
3. Find the power of a number using bitwise operations
4. Generate all subsets using bitmasks
5. Find the missing number in an array (Bitwise XOR approach)
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9️⃣ Kadane’s Algorithm
Concept: Optimized approach for finding the maximum sum subarray.
✅ Problems:
1. Find the maximum sum subarray (Kadane’s Algorithm)
2. Find the maximum product subarray
3. Find the largest sum of a circular subarray
4. Find the length of the longest alternating subarray
🔟 Dynamic Programming (DP) Optimization Techniques
Concept: Optimizing recursion and breaking problems into subproblems.
✅ Problems:
1. Longest Increasing Subsequence (LIS) (Can be solved with Sliding Window + DP)
2. Coin Change Problem (DP + Greedy Optimization)
3. Subset Sum Problem (Bitmask DP + Memoization)
4. Edit Distance (DP + Recursion)
5. Knapsack Problem (State Compression DP)
📌 How to Practice These Problems?
👉 Leetcode: Search for problems using these keywords (Sliding Window, Two Pointers, etc.).
👉 Codeforces: Look for problems tagged with these techniques.
👉 InterviewBit & GeeksforGeeks: Have good explanations and practice sets.
Would you like code implementations for any of these problems? 🚀
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