Dataford
Interview QuestionsInterview GuidesExperiencesMock InterviewsPricing
Get started

Minimum Platforms Required

MediumPython00:00
Practice interviewer
In session
5 left
00:00

Your question is Minimum Platforms Required. Start with the requirements on the right.

Run and submit as often as you like. When you're ready, talk me through your approach or go straight to the code.

You need to log in / sign up to run or submit.

Problem

ClearTax operates scheduled employee shuttle services between office locations. Given the arrival and departure times of buses at one station, compute the minimum number of platforms required so that no bus waits for an available platform.

You are given two arrays, arrivals and departures, where arrivals[i] and departures[i] represent the arrival and departure time of the same bus. Times are integers in HHMM format, such as 930 for 9:30 AM and 1545 for 3:45 PM. A platform remains occupied when a bus arrives at exactly the same time another bus departs.

Return the minimum number of platforms needed at any point during the schedule.

Formal Specification

Implement min_platforms(arrivals, departures).

  • Input: Two integer arrays of equal length, with each departure occurring after its corresponding arrival.
  • Output: An integer representing the maximum number of buses simultaneously requiring platforms.

Constraints

  • 1 <= len(arrivals) == len(departures) <= 10^5
  • 0 <= arrivals[i], departures[i] <= 2359
  • Each bus's departure time is later than its arrival time
  • Times are valid HHMM values

Function Signature

def min_platforms(arrivals, departures):
Your solutionPython 3
You need to log in / sign up to run or submit.
Run your code to see test output