Code Room
CodingHardcod-g901
Subject Game theoryLevel Senior–Staff~30 minCommon in Algorithms & data structures interviewsIndustries Software development

Question

A line of coins is given by 'coins', each with a positive value. Two players alternate; on each turn a player removes a coin from either the left or right end and keeps its value. Both play optimally to maximize their own total. The first player moves first. Return the maximum score difference (first player minus second player) achievable under optimal play. 1 <= len(coins) <= 500, 1 <= coins[i] <= 10^4.

Implement
coins_in_line(coins: list[int]) → int
Examples
in[[8,15,3,7]]out11
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.