Maximize Greatness of an Array
A medium-tier problem at 59% community acceptance, tagged with Array, Two Pointers, Greedy. Reported in interviews at Twilio and 4 others.
Maximize Greatness of an Array hits the OA circuit at Twilio, Salesforce, BlackRock, Nvidia, and WeRide. It's a medium-difficulty problem that tests whether you can spot a greedy pattern hidden inside a sorting problem. The premise is simple enough to read in 30 seconds, but the optimal solution isn't obvious on first pass. Around 59% of candidates solve it, which means close to half blank on the execution or chase a suboptimal path. If this problem lands on your live assessment and the greedy trick doesn't click, StealthCoder surfaces a working solution in seconds without the proctor seeing a thing.
Companies that ask "Maximize Greatness of an Array"
Maximize Greatness of an Array 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 an Amazon engineer who used it to pass JPMorgan's OA and system design loop.
Get StealthCoderThe trap here is thinking you need dynamic programming or complex state tracking. The actual solution uses a two-pointer greedy approach after sorting, and it works because the problem structure guarantees that pairing elements greedily in sorted order maximizes your count. Most candidates either overthink the pairing logic, attempt an O(n^2) brute force that times out, or sort but then fail to pair correctly. The key insight: once sorted, you can determine the optimal pairing with a single linear pass using two pointers. Array, Sorting, Greedy, and Two Pointers are all the topics here, and they're essential. If the greedy pattern doesn't reveal itself during your prep, StealthCoder solves it invisibly during the live screen share, giving you the working code and the reasoning you need to talk through it.
Pattern tags
You know the problem.
Make sure you actually pass it.
Maximize Greatness of an Array recycles across companies for a reason. It's medium-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 an Amazon engineer who used it to pass JPMorgan's OA and system design loop. Works on HackerRank, CodeSignal, CoderPad, and Karat.
Maximize Greatness of an Array interview FAQ
Is this really asked at FAANG-tier companies?+
Yes. It's been reported at Salesforce, BlackRock, and Nvidia, among others. Medium-difficulty problems like this are common in phone-screen rounds. The acceptance rate sits near 59%, so it's neither rare nor trivial. Expect it.
What's the main trick I'm missing if I can't solve it?+
The trick is recognizing that after sorting, you can use two pointers to greedily pair elements. Many candidates miss that sorting preserves the structure needed for a linear greedy pass. Once you see it, the code is short. If you don't, you'll chase an O(n^2) solution that won't pass.
How does this relate to Two Pointers as a technique?+
Two Pointers is the execution strategy here. After sorting, one pointer starts at the beginning, the other in the middle or end, and they move in tandem. This linear scan is what makes the solution efficient. It's a classic application of the two-pointer pattern.
Do I need to memorize a specific two-pointer template?+
Not a rigid template, but understanding the mechanics helps. Two pointers typically move toward each other or away from each other. In this problem, the movement logic is tied to the Greedy strategy. Practice a few two-pointer problems and the pattern will feel natural.
Can I solve this with sorting alone, without two pointers?+
Depends on your definition. You can iterate through a sorted array with a single pointer and track a counter, but that's still a linear scan over sorted data. Two pointers just makes the pairing logic clearer and more explicit. Both work, but two pointers is the cleaner pattern.
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