How should I practice Maximize the Minimum Cone Distance?

Start by reading the full statement, solve the visible examples, then compare the pattern against related Sumo Logic phone screen problems in FastPrep.

Is Maximize the Minimum Cone Distance associated with Sumo Logic?

FastPrep tags this as a Sumo Logic phone screen coding practice problem when the problem catalog has that company and stage context.

Problem · Array

Maximize the Minimum Cone Distance

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Sumo LogicFULLTIMEPHONE SCREEN

Problem statement

You are given n distinct coordinates in the integer array positions. Choose exactly m coordinates at which to place cones.

The distance between two cones is the absolute difference between their coordinates. Return the largest possible value of the minimum distance between every pair of consecutively placed cones after the chosen coordinates are sorted.

Function

maximizeMinimumConeDistance(positions: int[], m: int) → int

Examples

Example 1

positions = [1,2,8,4,9]m = 3return = 3

Choosing coordinates [1,4,8] gives consecutive gaps 3 and 4, so its minimum gap is 3. No placement has a larger minimum gap.

Example 2

positions = [1,5,8,4,9,12,19]m = 3return = 8

Choosing [1,9,19] gives gaps 8 and 10, so the answer is 8.

Constraints

2 <= positions.length <= 6000.
2 <= m <= positions.length.
0 <= positions[i] <= 10^9.
All coordinates in positions are distinct.