Minimum Sideway Jumps
A medium-tier problem at 51% community acceptance, tagged with Array, Dynamic Programming, Greedy. Reported in interviews at Pony.ai and 1 others.
Minimum Sideway Jumps is a medium-difficulty problem that sits at the intersection of dynamic programming and greedy thinking, with a 51% acceptance rate that signals it punishes rushed approaches. You're given a road split into three lanes, obstacles in certain positions, and you need to find the minimum number of sideways jumps to reach the end without hitting an obstacle. Pony.ai and Oracle both ask it. The trap is thinking you can greedily jump whenever you see an obstacle; the real solution requires tracking which lane you're in and the cost of switching. If you hit this live and your first instinct fails, StealthCoder solves it invisibly during your screen share.
Companies that ask "Minimum Sideway Jumps"
Minimum Sideway Jumps 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 realized the OA tests how well you memorized 200 problems, not how well you code.
Get StealthCoderThe problem combines array traversal with state tracking. You move forward one unit at a time, but occasionally you hit an obstacle and must jump sideways. The naive greedy approach (jump whenever forced) gets stuck because sometimes it's cheaper to jump early to avoid a future cluster of obstacles. Dynamic programming tracks the minimum jumps needed to reach each position in each lane. The key insight is that you don't always need to jump the moment you see an obstacle; you might jump now to avoid multiple jumps later. Greedy optimization then applies: if you must jump, choose the lane that avoids the most upcoming obstacles. Most candidates either implement a brute-force recursion that times out or miss the greedy pruning that makes DP efficient. StealthCoder becomes your safety net if the state-space reasoning doesn't click during the live assessment.
Pattern tags
You know the problem.
Make sure you actually pass it.
Minimum Sideway Jumps 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 realized the OA tests how well you memorized 200 problems, not how well you code. Works on HackerRank, CodeSignal, CoderPad, and Karat.
Minimum Sideway Jumps interview FAQ
Is Minimum Sideway Jumps really asked at FAANG?+
It's asked at Pony.ai and Oracle, both serious engineering shops. The 51% acceptance rate tells you it's not a gimme. If you're prepping for those companies or similar (autonomous systems, infrastructure), this pattern matters. Most medium DP problems skip the greedy component, so this one actually tests algorithmic judgment.
What's the trick everyone misses?+
Candidates assume they jump only when forced. Wrong. You can jump proactively to reduce future jumps. The DP state must track which lane you occupy after each forward step, then greedy pruning skips states that can't lead to a better solution. Without the pruning, the DP is correct but slow.
How hard is it really compared to other medium DP problems?+
It's harder than standard coin-change DP because it combines two strategies: you must know when to jump (DP) and where to jump (greedy heuristic). The state space is small (3 lanes, n positions), but the logic is trickier. The 51% pass rate confirms it's genuinely medium-hard, not easy-medium.
Do I need to code it optimally first try?+
No. A clean O(n) DP with state transition will pass. The greedy pruning is an optimization, not a requirement. Start with the straightforward DP: for each position, try all three lanes, memoize, and iterate. Optimize only if you're comfortable with the logic first.
How does this relate to other Array and DP problems?+
It's a step up from basic array DP (like house robber) because you're maintaining multiple states per position and pruning based on future cost, not just local choice. If you've mastered interval DP and state-based DP, this clicks faster. If not, expect to spend time on the state design.
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