Code Room
CodingMediumcod-g1427
Subject Sliding windowLevel Entry–Mid~15 minCommon in Algorithms & data structures interviewsIndustries Software development

Question

A workout app logs calories burned per minute as positive integers. A recovery planner wants the fewest consecutive minutes whose calories total at least target. Given the per-minute list burns and the positive target, return that minimum stretch length, or 0 if even the whole session falls short. Grow the window from the right and shrink it greedily from the left. Example: burns = [4, 2, 3, 6, 2], target = 8 gives 2 (6 + 2, or 3 + 6 is 9).

Implement
shortest_burn_window(burns: list[int], target: int) → int
Examples
in[[4,2,3,6,2],8]out2
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.