CodingHardcod-g271

Subject Dp optimizationLevel Senior–Staff~35 minCommon in Algorithms & data structures interviewsIndustries Software development

Question

You start at index 0 of array cost and must reach the last index. From index i you may jump to any index in [i+1, i+k]. Landing on index j adds cost[j]. Return the minimum total cost to reach the last index (cost[0] is counted as you start there). 1 <= len(cost) <= 10^5, 1 <= k <= len(cost), 0 <= cost[i] <= 10^4.

Implement

min_jump_cost(cost: list[int], k: int) → int

Examples

in[[1,3,1,5,2],2]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.