CodingMediumcod-g027

Subject Dynamic programming 2dLevel Mid–Senior~25 minCommon in Algorithms & data structures interviewsIndustries Software development

Question

Given two strings s1 and s2, you may delete characters from either string. Return the lowest possible sum of ASCII codes of the deleted characters needed to make the two strings equal. The strings contain lowercase English letters, with lengths up to 1000.

Implement

min_ascii_delete_sum(s1: str, s2: str) → int

Examples

in["sea","eat"]out231

What a strong answer looks like

State your approach and its time/space complexity out loud before you optimize. Handle the edge cases (empty input, duplicates, overflow), and say why you chose this over the brute force. Green tests are the floor, not the grade.

Learn the concepts

Vibe coding: describe the solution in plain language (or narrate it) and the coach grades your approach. Generating runnable code from your description is coming next.

Run or narrate your approach, then ask the coach.