Grokking 75: Top Coding Interview Questions
Ask Author
Back to course home

0% completed

Vote For New Content
Rotting Oranges (medium)
Table of Contents

Contents are not accessible

Contents are not accessible

Contents are not accessible

Contents are not accessible

Contents are not accessible

Problem Statement

You are given an m x n matrix in which each cell can have one of three values:

  • 0 representing an empty cell,
  • 1 representing a fresh orange, or
  • 2 representing a rotten orange.

At each minute, any fresh orange becomes rotten if it is 4-directionally adjacent to a rotten orange.

Return the minimum number of minutes that should be passed until all the orange gets rotten. If it is impossible, return -1.

Examples

  • Input: grid =
[[2,1,0,0],
 [1,1,1,0],
 [0,1,1,1],
 [0,0,1,2]]
  • Expected Output: 3
  • Justification: The rotten oranges at (0,0) and (3,3) spread the rot to all adjacent fresh oranges. By day 4, all reachable fresh oranges are spoiled. The progression is as follows:
    • Minute 1: Oranges at positions (0, 1), (1, 0), (2, 3), and (3, 2) gets spoiled.
    • Minute 2: Oranges at positions (1, 1), and (2, 2) gets spoiled.
    • Minute 3: Oranges at positions (2, 1), and (1, 2) gets spoiled.

Example 2:

  • Input: grid =
[[2,1,1],
 [1,1,0],
 [0,1,2]]
  • Expected Output: 2
  • Justification: The rotten oranges spread the rot to all fresh oranges in 2 minutes, successfully spoiling all of them.

Example 3:

  • Input: grid =
[[0,2],
 [1,0],
 [0,1]]
  • Expected Output: -1
  • Justification: In any case, it is not possible that all oranges gets rotten.

Constraints:

  • m == grid.length
  • n == grid[i].length
  • 1 <= m, n <= 10
  • grid[i][j] is 0, 1, or 2.

Try it yourself

Try solving this question here:

Python3
Python3

. . . .

.....

.....

.....

Like the course? Get enrolled and start learning!

Table of Contents

Contents are not accessible

Contents are not accessible

Contents are not accessible

Contents are not accessible

Contents are not accessible