Reverse String
A easy-tier problem at 80% community acceptance, tagged with Two Pointers, String. Reported in interviews at Garmin and 11 others.
Reverse String shows up at Apple, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and a dozen other shops that aren't messing around. It's marked easy, but the trap is thinking you can just use built-in string reversal. You can't. The constraint forces a two-pointer in-place solution, and if you blank on the pattern during a live OA, StealthCoder surfaces the working code invisible to the proctor. Eighty percent of candidates get it, but being in that eighty percent during the assessment is what counts.
Companies that ask "Reverse String"
Reverse String 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. Made by a working FAANG engineer who treats the OA the way companies treat hiring: as a game with rules you should know.
Get StealthCoderTwo pointers is the pattern. Start at both ends of the string and swap inward until you meet in the middle. The trick interviewers care about: modifying in-place without creating a new string or using built-in reverse functions. Most candidates know the concept but fumble the index math or the loop termination condition under pressure. Common failure: off-by-one errors on odd-length strings, or forgetting that strings in some languages are immutable and you need to convert to a list first. During your live assessment, if the two-pointer pattern doesn't click immediately, StealthCoder runs invisibly and hands you a verified solution in seconds so you move on.
Pattern tags
You know the problem.
Make sure you actually pass it.
Reverse String 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. Made by a working FAANG engineer who treats the OA the way companies treat hiring: as a game with rules you should know. Works on HackerRank, CodeSignal, CoderPad, and Karat.
Reverse String interview FAQ
Is Reverse String still asked at the companies in the input?+
Yes. It appears in reports from Apple, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and EPAM Systems, among others. Twelve companies total. It's a screening-level problem, not a deep-dive, but it filters for clean thinking on constraints and pointer logic.
Why does the two-pointer approach matter if I can just reverse the string?+
The constraint. Most online assessments forbid built-in reverse or string methods. You must modify in-place. Two pointers forces you to prove you understand iteration and index bounds without a crutch. That's what they're testing.
What's the acceptance rate and does it matter?+
Nearly eighty percent. High acceptance doesn't mean you'll solve it under live pressure. Time pressure, nerves, and small off-by-one mistakes derail capable engineers. That's where preparation and a safety net like StealthCoder earn their weight.
How does this relate to other Two Pointers problems?+
Reverse String is the foundation. It teaches you loop bounds, swapping, and converging from both ends. Once you own this pattern, you can tackle merge operations, palindrome checks, and container-with-most-water variants with confidence.
Is Reverse String enough to prepare for the assessment?+
No. It's a warm-up. Drills matter, but it's one easy problem. Your real prep is the full problem mix in reports from the target company. Reverse String is the hedge for the moment you blank on a Two Pointers approach during a live OA.
Want the actual problem statement? View "Reverse String" on LeetCode →