Code Room
CodingMediumcod-g1193
Subject ArraysLevel Entry–Mid~15 minCommon in Algorithms & data structures interviewsIndustries Software development

Question

A warehouse checks deliveries against purchase orders. You get the list of item codes that were ordered and the list of codes actually received; both can repeat, and quantities matter — ordering code 4 twice but receiving it once means one unit of 4 is missing. Return every missing unit as a list of codes in ascending order (with repeats). Extra received units are ignored. Example: ordered [4, 4, 7, 9], received [4, 9] gives [4, 7].

Implement
missing_items(ordered: list[int], received: list[int]) → list[int]
Examples
in[[4,4,7,9],[4,9]]out[4,7]
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.

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.