How do you decide if you can reach the last index when each value is a max jump length?
PICTURE THIS: DATABASE INDEX
Simple meaning
Track the farthest reachable index while scanning left to right
WHY — Greedy instead of guessing?
Why interviewers care about Greedy:
question about Greedy.
trade-offs, and what you would actually do on a DSA project - not buzzwords.
Name the idea, why it exists, then one short example.
End with when you use it and one common pitfall.
STEPS — What happens step by step?
Before you speak the answer, walk the interviewer through these steps:
- 1Track the farthest reachable
index while scanning left to right
- 2if i exceeds farthest
you fail, otherwise extend farthest by i+nums[i].
- 3One O(n) pass and
O(1) space.
- 4DP reachability is O(n^2)
and unnecessary here.
- 5Common mistake
What juniors usually get wrong.
- 6Close
When you pick this over the alternative.
EXAMPLE — See it in action
Here's a short line you can speak, broken into clear beats:
Note: Adapt this scaffold to your own project — keep it under 60–90 seconds.
Key takeaway
Track the farthest reachable index while scanning left to right if i exceeds farthest you fail, otherwise extend farthest by i+nums[i].