Find Indices With Index and Value Difference I
A easy-tier problem at 60% community acceptance, tagged with Array, Two Pointers. Reported in interviews at Paytm and 0 others.
Find Indices With Index and Value Difference I is an easy two-pointer problem that looks deceptively simple on paper. You're given an array and asked to find two indices where the difference in positions matches the difference in values. Paytm has asked this one. It's the kind of problem that sounds like brute force at first, but the real trick is spotting when a two-pointer or sliding window approach cuts through in linear time. An acceptance rate near 60% tells you some candidates are missing the optimization. If this lands in your live assessment and you freeze on the pattern, StealthCoder surfaces the working solution in seconds, invisible to the proctor.
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Find Indices With Index and Value Difference I 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 naive approach scans all pairs, which works but eats time. The actual pattern: you're hunting for indices i and j where the absolute difference |i - j| equals |nums[i] - nums[j]|. Rearrange that constraint and you realize you can track what values you've seen at certain distances from your current position. Two pointers or a hash map keyed on (value, index difference) both work. The common miss is trying to optimize prematurely with complex data structures when a simple pass with memoization does the job. Most candidates either brute force and accept the inefficiency, or overthink and burn time. The trick is recognizing that the constraint ties index distance directly to value distance. When you hit this live and the brute force feels clunky, StealthCoder gives you the cleaned-up version that passes all edge cases.
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Find Indices With Index and Value Difference I 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.
Find Indices With Index and Value Difference I interview FAQ
Is this problem actually easy, or is the 60% acceptance rate misleading?+
The acceptance rate suggests the constraint is unintuitive on first read. The algebra is straightforward once you see it, but spotting the two-pointer or hash map structure isn't obvious under time pressure. Most easy problems sit above 70% acceptance. This one's genuinely a bit stickier.
What's the most common wrong approach candidates take?+
Brute force nested loops checking every pair. It passes small test cases but times out on large arrays. Candidates often don't stop to rearrange the constraint equation to see the index-and-value symmetry that unlocks the better solution.
Do I need a sliding window or two pointers?+
Two pointers works cleanly. Sliding window is trickier because the window size isn't fixed by the problem. A hash map approach is also solid and arguably more intuitive. Pick whichever you're most comfortable reasoning through quickly.
Has Paytm really asked this, or is that outdated?+
The data shows Paytm in the reports. It's a real ask, though hiring reports lag by months. Treat it as a genuine possibility in their assessments, not a historical artifact.
Should I memorize this or understand the pattern?+
Understand the rearrangement of the constraint. Once you see that |i - j| = |nums[i] - nums[j]| ties the two differences together, the solution structure clicks. Memorizing doesn't help if the problem tweaks the constraint slightly.
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