tech-interview-handbook/contents/algorithms/sorting-searching.md

---
id: sorting-searching
title: Sorting and searching
---

## Tips

When a given sequence is in a sorted order (be it ascending or descending), using binary search should be one of the first things that come to your mind.

## Sample questions

- Sorting search results on a page given a certain set of criteria.
- Sort a list of numbers in which each number is at a distance `K` from its actual position.
- Given an array of integers, sort the array so that all odd indexes are greater than the even indexes.
- Given users with locations in a list and a logged-in user with locations, find their travel buddies (people who shared more than half of your locations).
- Search for an element in a sorted and rotated array.
  - [Source](http://blog.gainlo.co/index.php/2017/01/12/rotated-array-binary-search/)
- Merge two sorted lists together.
- Give 3 distinct algorithms to find the K largest values in a list of N items.
- Find the minimum element in a sorted rotated array in faster than O(n) time.
- Write a function that takes a number as input and outputs the biggest number with the same set of digits.
  - [Source](http://blog.gainlo.co/index.php/2017/01/20/arrange-given-numbers-to-form-the-biggest-number-possible/)