CodingHardcod-g572

Subject Kth elementLevel Senior–Staff~30 minCommon in Algorithms & data structures interviewsIndustries Software development, Technology

Question

Given an n x n matrix where each row and each column is sorted in ascending order, return the k-th smallest element in the matrix (in overall sorted order). 1 <= n <= 300 and 1 <= k <= n*n. Aim to beat O(n^2 log n).

Implement

kth_smallest_matrix(matrix: list[list[int]], k: int) → int

Examples

in[[[1,5,9],[10,11,13],[12,13,15]],8]out13

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.