CodingMediumcod-g034

Subject Grid dpLevel Mid–Senior~20 minCommon in Algorithms & data structures interviewsIndustries Software development

Question

Given an m x n binary matrix whose entries are 0 or 1, find the largest square containing only 1s and return its area. If the matrix contains no 1s, return 0. The matrix has at least one cell and dimensions up to 300x300.

Implement

maximal_square(matrix: list[list[int]]) → int

Examples

in[[[1,0,1,0,0],[1,0,1,1,1],[1,1,1,1,1],[1,0,0,1,0]]]out4

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.