Count Square Sum Triples
A easy-tier problem at 69% community acceptance, tagged with Math, Enumeration. Reported in interviews at Qualtrics and 0 others.
Count Square Sum Triples is a brute-force enumeration problem that asks you to find all triplets (a, b, c) where a² + b² = c² within a given limit. Qualtrics has asked it. The acceptance rate sits at 69%, so most people who attempt it pass, but that's because the problem itself is straightforward once you see the pattern. The real trap is writing efficient loops without overthinking it. If you hit this on a live assessment and freeze on the bounds, StealthCoder surfaces a working solution in seconds, invisible to the proctor.
Companies that ask "Count Square Sum Triples"
Count Square Sum Triples is the kind of problem that decides whether you pass. StealthCoder reads the problem on screen and surfaces a working solution in under 2 seconds. Invisible to screen share. The proctor sees nothing. Built by a senior engineer who knows the OA is theater. This is the script.
Get StealthCoderThe trick here is simple enumeration with the right loop boundaries. You iterate a from 1 to n, b from a to n (to avoid duplicate triplets), then check if a² + b² is a perfect square with c ≤ n. The naive approach fails if you don't cap your loops correctly or if you try to generate all triplets and filter, which wastes cycles. The real win is recognizing that you only need to check c up to n and that you can break early when c exceeds the limit. Math and Enumeration are the only tools you need here. No dynamic programming, no number theory tricks. If you've drilled Pythagorean triples before, this is familiar ground. If not, StealthCoder gives you the working solution the moment you need it during your assessment, so you don't lose time spinning on bounds.
Pattern tags
You know the problem.
Make sure you actually pass it.
Count Square Sum Triples recycles across companies for a reason. It's easy-tier, and most candidates blank under the timer. StealthCoder is the hedge: an AI overlay invisible during screen share. It reads the problem and surfaces a working solution in under 2 seconds. Built by a senior engineer who knows the OA is theater. This is the script. Works on HackerRank, CodeSignal, CoderPad, and Karat.
Count Square Sum Triples interview FAQ
How hard is Count Square Sum Triples really?+
It's genuinely easy. 69% acceptance rate confirms that most people pass. The difficulty is not the algorithm, it's discipline: writing clean, bounded loops and avoiding off-by-one errors. If you can enumerate and check a condition, you can solve this in under 5 minutes.
What's the trick to avoiding duplicate triplets?+
Start b from a (not 1), so you never count (3,4,5) and (4,3,5) as different. This single constraint cuts your work in half and eliminates the duplicate-handling logic that kills speed during a live OA.
How do I know when to stop checking for c?+
Once a² + b² exceeds n², you can break. Also, c itself must not exceed n. Set your loop or conditional to enforce c ≤ n. That boundary is what separates a clean solution from one that times out or counts invalid triplets.
Does Qualtrics still ask this, or is it retired?+
Qualtrics has asked it. Whether they continue to feature it in their assessment battery is unknown, but it's a popular filter problem because it tests basic loop discipline and math reasoning without hiding any trick.
What language should I use for this?+
Any language works. The logic is identical across Python, Java, C++, and Go. Choose whichever you're fastest in. The problem is not a syntax or API gauntlet, just enumeration and a square-root or perfect-square check.
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