CodingHardcod-g479

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

Question

Partition the array `a` of non-negative integers into exactly `k` contiguous non-empty groups. The cost of a group is the square of its sum; the total cost is the sum of group costs. Return the minimum achievable total cost. Assume 1 <= k <= len(a).

Implement

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

Examples

in[[1,2,3,4],2]out52

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.