CodingMediumcod-g085

Subject Kth elementLevel Mid–Senior~20 minCommon in Algorithms & data structures interviewsIndustries Software development

Question

Given an integer array a (with possible duplicates) and an integer k (1 <= k <= len(a)), return the k-th largest element by value, where duplicates count toward rank (so the k-th largest is the element in sorted-descending position k, not the k-th distinct value). The array can have length 1.

Implement

kth_largest(a: list[int], k: int) → int

Examples

in[[3,2,1,5,6,4],2]out5

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.