Maximize Sum with No Adjacent Elements Coding / DSA Interview

Given a list of integers, find the maximum sum you can obtain by choosing elements such that no two chosen elements are adjacent in the list.

Mock Interview with AI

1. Problem Statement

Given a list of integers, return the maximum sum you can obtain by selecting elements such that no two selected elements are adjacent. Start with any clarifying questions.

2. Live Coding Format

Work in the provided coding workspace while explaining your decisions to the live interviewer. Validation may use inline tests, examples, comments, or a verbal walkthrough.

3. Key Focus Areas

1
Contract clarification (empty input, all-negative, empty selection allowed or not)
2
Recurrence derivation and DP table
3
Space optimisation to O(1)
4
Edge cases: empty list, single element, two elements
5
Follow-up: return chosen indices

4. What Strong Candidates Should Demonstrate

✓Clarify the adjacency constraint, empty selection behaviour, and all-negative edge case.
✓Derive the DP recurrence: best[i] = max(best[i-1], best[i-2] + nums[i]).
✓Reduce from O(n) space to O(1) space using two rolling variables.
✓Trace the recurrence on concrete examples including all-negative and single-element inputs.

Want interactive feedback?

Practice this problem in the live coding workspace while the interviewer probes your clarification, implementation, trade-offs, and validation.

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Core Concepts

Dynamic ProgrammingArraysGreedy Thinking