Agreed. What I'd actually ask as a candidate is what to optimize for. Are we looking at an N of 100 and a simple solution will do, or are we looking at an N o

Agreed. What I'd actually ask as a candidate is what to optimize for. Are we looking at an N of 100 and a simple solution will do, or are we looking at an N of a million? Maybe memory is the constraint. Atleast show the candidate that you're thinking pragmatically. The goal in the real world isn't to write the "fastest" algorithm, it's to write the most appropriate one.