Spent the first few minutes drawing it out on paper before touching any code, which I think saved me.
Clarify the problem constraints and edge cases, then outline a greedy simulation that tracks the current position and iterates through scooters. For each scooter, if it's ahead, walk to it, ride up to 10 units or until the target, and accumulate the riding distance. Finally, analyze time and space complexity.
Pro tip: Mention that you would confirm whether walking distance should be excluded and whether scooters can be reused; this shows attention to detail and avoids incorrect assumptions.
Ask about edge cases: target behind start, no scooters, multiple scooters at same position, and whether walking distance counts. Confirm that only riding distance is summed.
Explain that you'll simulate the process: start at position 0, find the nearest scooter to the right, walk to it, then ride up to 10 units or until target, and repeat.
Use a small example to demonstrate the logic, showing how you update the current position and accumulate riding distance.
State that the time complexity is O(n) where n is the number of scooters, as you iterate through the list once, and space complexity is O(1).
Mention handling of cases where the target is reached before using all scooters, or when scooters are behind the current position. Note that the sorted input allows linear scan.
AI-generated suggestions, not part of the candidate's original notes. May be inaccurate — verify before relying on them.