Smallest Number Greater Thank K
Reported by candidates from Accenture's online assessment. Pattern, common pitfall, and the honest play if you blank under the timer.
Accenture's September OA threw this at candidates: given a number K, find the smallest number greater than K with a specific property. The problem title is vague by design, which means the real challenge is parsing what makes a number valid. You're not studying right now. You need the pattern and the edge cases that trip people up. If you blank on the OA, StealthCoder reads the full problem and surfaces the solution in real time.
Pattern and pitfall
Without the full problem text, the likely pattern is greedy digit manipulation or brute-force iteration with a validation rule. Most candidates overthink and iterate upward from K+1, checking each candidate against the constraint. The trick is usually that you can construct the answer directly by modifying K's digits rather than searching. Common pitfalls: off-by-one errors, not handling edge cases like all 9s or single-digit inputs, and missing that a greedy left-to-right digit swap often works. When you're live on the OA and doubt creeps in, StealthCoder catches the exact constraint definition and shows you whether to iterate or construct.
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You can drill Smallest Number Greater Thank K cold, or you can hedge it. StealthCoder runs invisibly during screen share and surfaces a working solution in under 2 seconds. The proctor sees the IDE. They don't see what's behind it. If you're reading this with an OA window open, you're who this was built for.
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Smallest Number Greater Thank K FAQ
What does 'property' mean in this problem?+
The problem statement withheld here likely specifies a rule like 'no repeated digits', 'sum of digits equals X', or 'digits in ascending order'. Without the full text, assume you'll need to read carefully. The property is the only thing that matters.
Should I brute-force or construct the answer?+
If K is small (under 10 million), brute-force incrementing and checking works. If K is huge (10^18 range), you must construct. Read the constraints in your OA. Construction is faster and shows you understand the pattern.
What's the most common mistake on this type of problem?+
Not handling the case where K has trailing 9s or when incrementing K rolls over all digits. Also, forgetting to validate the result actually satisfies the constraint. Test your answer on paper first.
Is this problem still asked at Accenture in 2024?+
Yes, September 2024 confirms it. It's a medium-difficulty warmup, not a final-round blocker. Solve it cleanly, move on, save energy for harder problems later in the OA.
Can I solve this in less than 15 minutes?+
Absolutely. Parse the constraint carefully in the first 2 minutes, code the solution in 8-10, test with 2-3 examples. If you're stuck on the constraint definition, re-read it twice before coding.