Valid Word Abbreviation
A easy-tier problem at 37% community acceptance, tagged with Two Pointers, String. Reported in interviews at Rokt and 4 others.
Valid Word Abbreviation shows up in OAs at Meta, Datadog, Disney, Snowflake, and Rokt, but only 37% of candidates clear it. The problem looks trivial on the surface: given a word and an abbreviation, check if the abbreviation is a valid compression of that word. The catch is that candidates often misread the validation rules and accept abbreviations they shouldn't. This is the exact problem where you blank under pressure, re-read the constraints three times, and still code the wrong thing. If this hits your live assessment and you're stuck, StealthCoder solves it in seconds, invisible to the proctor.
Companies that ask "Valid Word Abbreviation"
Valid Word Abbreviation 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 StealthCoderThe trick isn't in the algorithm. It's in understanding what makes an abbreviation valid: each letter must match, and digits must represent the count of omitted characters. The two-pointer pattern feels obvious until you realize you need to handle digit parsing correctly and validate that consecutive digits don't occur and that a digit can't start the abbreviation. Most failures come from either incorrectly parsing multi-digit numbers or not rejecting malformed abbreviations that have two digits in a row. The brute-force approach works fine for reasonable input sizes. Where candidates stumble is in the validation logic itself, not the traversal. StealthCoder handles the edge cases: leading digits, consecutive digits, partial matches. It's a string problem dressed as an abbreviation problem, and the two-pointer traversal is just scaffolding for the real work, which is careful character-by-character validation.
Pattern tags
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Valid Word Abbreviation 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.
Valid Word Abbreviation interview FAQ
Is this problem actually easy, or are the acceptance numbers wrong?+
The problem is labeled easy and the mechanics are simple, but 37% acceptance suggests many candidates misread the validation rules on first pass. The low rate is about rushing and re-reading, not algorithm difficulty. It's an easy problem that tests carefulness, not coding skill.
Do I really need two pointers, or is a simpler approach fine?+
Two pointers is the standard pattern: one on the word, one on the abbreviation. You advance both as you match characters and digits. It's clean, not overengineered. You could iterate differently, but two pointers maps naturally to the problem structure.
What's the most common mistake on this problem?+
Candidates often accept consecutive digits or leading digits in the abbreviation without checking. The validation rules are strict: a digit must be a valid count, not two digits back-to-back. Re-read the problem statement before coding.
Is this still asked at top companies like Meta and Snowflake?+
Yes. Meta, Datadog, Disney, Snowflake, and Rokt all reportedly ask it. It's a screening problem, not a hard one, so it filters on attention to detail and clarity of thought under time pressure.
What topics does this actually cover if I'm prepping a study plan?+
It touches two pointers and string manipulation. The two-pointer pattern is more important for harder problems. This one is a good warm-up for string traversal and understanding how to parse and validate formats.
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