Code Room
CodingMediumcod-g856
Subject Sorting variantsLevel Mid–Senior~30 minCommon in Algorithms & data structures interviewsIndustries Software development

Question

Given an integer array, rearrange it into a 'wiggle' ordering nums[0] < nums[1] > nums[2] < nums[3] ... so that no two adjacent elements are equal even when duplicates exist. Return any valid rearrangement; a canonical one is to interleave the larger half (descending) into the odd positions and the smaller half (descending) into the even positions. The input is guaranteed to admit a valid wiggle ordering.

Implement
wiggle_sort(nums: list[int]) → list[int]
Examples
in[[1,5,1,1,6,4]]out[1,6,1,5,1,4]
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.