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Find Smallest Common Row Value

SoFiSoftware Engineer · Technical Screen
EasySoftware EngineerTechnical ScreenCoding & Algorithms

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This question evaluates algorithmic problem-solving skills focused on array processing, intersection across multiple sorted sequences, and time/space complexity analysis.

You are given a 2D integer matrix where each row is sorted in strictly increasing order. Return the smallest integer that appears in every row. If no such integer exists, return -1.

Assumptions:

  • The matrix contains at least 1 row and 1 column.
  • All rows have the same length.
  • Values can be negative or positive.

Example: Input: [ [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], [2, 4, 5, 8, 10], [3, 5, 7, 9, 11], [1, 3, 5, 7, 9] ] Output: 5

During the interview, you may also be asked to clarify edge cases and write test methods or unit test cases for your solution.