Code Room
CodingMediumcod-g562
Subject Dutch flagLevel Mid–Senior~18 minCommon in Distributed systems · Algorithms & data structures interviewsIndustries Software development

Question

Given an array nums of values 0, 1, and 2 (representing colors), return a new array with the same multiset sorted so all 0s come first, then 1s, then 2s. Do it in a single pass with constant extra space (besides the output). Array length up to 1e5.

Implement
sort_colors(nums: list[int]) → list[int]
Examples
in[[2,0,2,1,1,0]]out[0,0,1,1,2,2]
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.