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Traverse levels selecting nodes meeting a predicate

MetaSoftware Engineer · Technical Screen

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Traverse levels selecting nodes meeting a predicate evaluates algorithm design, data structures, correctness, complexity, edge cases, and implementation details in a realistic interview setting. A strong answer states assumptions, handles edge cases, explains trade-offs, and shows how to validate the result clearly.

Given the root of a binary tree and a predicate P(value) that returns true for certain node values, return a list of lists where the i-th list contains the values at depth i that satisfy P. Implement an iterative traversal that uses a stack to manage nodes per level (no recursion). Clearly explain how you detect level boundaries, maintain per-level collections, and analyze time and space complexity.