Total Distance Traveled
A easy-tier problem at 40% community acceptance, tagged with Math, Simulation. Reported in interviews at Compass and 0 others.
Total Distance Traveled is an easy problem that asks you to sum up distances from a sequence of position changes. It shows up in Compass interviews and has a 40% acceptance rate, which means even easy problems trip people up. The catch is usually in how you handle direction changes or negative movements. If you blank on the exact logic during your live assessment, StealthCoder runs invisibly and surfaces a working solution in seconds so you can move on.
Companies that ask "Total Distance Traveled"
Total Distance Traveled 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 because the OA filter rejects engineers who'd pass the on-site. That's a broken filter. This is the workaround.
Get StealthCoderThe trick here is recognizing that distance traveled isn't the same as net displacement. You need to sum the absolute value of each step, not just the final position minus the start. The obvious mistake is forgetting to account for direction reversals, or trying to optimize when a straightforward simulation is the right call. Most people solve this correctly once they understand it's a simulation problem, not a math trick. If you hit this live and second-guess yourself, StealthCoder solves it instantly while you stay calm and focused on the next problem.
Pattern tags
You know the problem.
Make sure you actually pass it.
Total Distance Traveled 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 because the OA filter rejects engineers who'd pass the on-site. That's a broken filter. This is the workaround. Works on HackerRank, CodeSignal, CoderPad, and Karat.
Total Distance Traveled interview FAQ
Why is the acceptance rate only 40% if this is marked easy?+
Easy tags reflect algorithmic complexity, not how well people read and implement. Most failures here come from misunderstanding the difference between net displacement and total distance traveled, or off-by-one errors in the simulation loop.
What's the core trick to Total Distance Traveled?+
There isn't a clever trick. You need to track each step as an absolute value and sum them, not just subtract the final position from the start. Once you recognize it's a simulation problem, the solution is straightforward.
Does this problem relate to other Compass interview topics?+
It touches Math and Simulation, both light tags here. Compass likely asks this to check if you read problems carefully and implement basic loops without off-by-one bugs, not to test advanced algorithmic thinking.
Is Total Distance Traveled still asked at interview stage, or is it filtered out?+
Compass has reported asking this problem. Easy problems aren't eliminated from loops; they're often early or mixed in. They weed out candidates who can't implement cleanly under pressure, even on simple logic.
How should I prepare for this if I haven't seen it?+
Understand the difference between displacement and distance. Trace through an example by hand with direction reversals. Once you see it, the code writes itself. If you freeze during the OA, StealthCoder is your hedge to avoid a careless rejection.
Want the actual problem statement? View "Total Distance Traveled" on LeetCode →