Minimum Moves to Equal Array Elements II

MediumMathmath

Solve this the way you would in the interview: out loud, on a timer, with an AI interviewer asking follow-ups while you code. You get a scored report at the end.

Practice this as a mock interviewFree to start, no account needed

Problem

Given an integer array nums, one move adds 1 to or subtracts 1 from a single element. Return the minimum number of moves needed to make every element equal. The answer is guaranteed to fit in a signed 32-bit integer.

Examples

Input: nums = [1,2,3]
Output: 2
Move 1 up to 2 and 3 down to 2.
Input: nums = [1,10,2,9]
Output: 16
Any target from 2 to 9 costs 16, for example 1->5, 10->5, 2->5, 9->5.

Constraints

  • 1 <= nums.length <= 10^5
  • -10^9 <= nums[i] <= 10^9
  • The answer fits in a 32-bit signed integer.

What the interviewer grades

A correct solution is one of five scores. The report also grades problem understanding (did you clarify inputs and edge cases before coding), problem solving, communication while you work, code quality, and testing. See a sample report, or read up on the pattern in the lessons.

More math problems