Question Details
Problem Statement We have three candies of different taste. A candies of type 1 B candies of type 2 C candies of type 3. We can perform the following operation any number of...
Full Details
Problem Statement
We have three candies of different taste.
A candies of type 1 B candies of type 2 C candies of type 3.
We can perform the following operation any number of times:
Choose any two candies of different taste and turn them into candies of remaining taste. Suppose, we take candy of type 1 and type 2 then they will be converted to type 3.
Our goal is to ensure that all candies have the same taste. If this condition is not achievable, the print -1, else print, \'n\', the minimum number of moves required to do so.
Input Format
The first line contains three space-seprated integers denoting the Number of candies of type 1(A), Number of Candies of Type 2(B), and Number of candies of type 3(C)
Output Format
Print n which is the minimum number of moves required if the goal is achievable.
If goal is not achievable print -1.
Constraints
1<=A,B,C<=10^8
Sample Testcase 1Sample Testcase 1
Testcase Input
1 2 3
Testcase Output
-1
Can Anyone provide a solution for this question
Thanks
About This Question
This is a reported interview question from a walmart interview for a swe role during the oa round reported in 2024.
It covers the following topics: Coding .
Topics
More Walmart Interview Questions
About Walmart Interview Reports
This question was reported by a candidate who interviewed at Walmart. LeakCode aggregates interview reports from 10+ sources, including 1Point3Acres, Glassdoor, LeetCode Discuss, Blind, Reddit, Indeed, and Nowcoder. Each report is translated where necessary, deduplicated against existing entries, and tagged by company, role, round type, and reporting date.
Use this question as one calibration data point, not a memorization target. Companies typically rotate their question pools every 2-4 months; the exact wording of a 2024 question may differ from what you encounter today. The underlying pattern, difficulty level, and follow-up depth at Walmart are the higher-signal extractions to take from this report.
For broader preparation context, the Walmart interview process typically includes a recruiter screen, one or two technical phone screens, and a 4-5 round on-site loop covering coding, system design (at L4+ levels), and behavioral. Reports tagged on LeakCode show the round-by-round distribution and typical difficulty calibration. To browse questions filtered by round type and seniority, use the company hub linked above.
How To Practice This Type of Question
Solve similar problems on LeetCode under timed conditions (25-35 minutes per medium difficulty). The goal is pattern recognition: recognize the underlying technique (sliding window, two-pointer, BFS, memoized recursion, etc.) within 60-90 seconds of reading. Strong candidates verbalize their hypothesis out loud before coding, then iterate based on feedback. Weak candidates dive into implementation immediately, lose time on the wrong approach, and run out of time for follow-ups.
Companies update their question pools every 2-4 months. The exact wording of any given question may have been retired by the time you interview. Focus your prep on the pattern, not the specific problem. The patterns that appear in Walmart reports consistently are the ones worth investing in; one-off niche problems are not.
During Your Walmart Round
Apply the standard interview round template: clarify requirements (2-3 minutes), state your approach out loud and confirm direction with the interviewer (3-5 minutes), code with narration (15-25 minutes), test with concrete examples including edge cases (5 minutes), discuss optimization or trade-offs if time permits (5 minutes). This template is universally accepted across FAANG and adjacent companies; deviating from it produces weaker interviewer feedback signal.
The single most predictive failure mode in Walmart reports tagged "no hire": not asking clarifying questions. Interviewers are explicitly trained to weight this. Strong candidates ask 3-5 clarifying questions even on problems that look obvious; weak candidates dive into code immediately. The clarifying-question check is often the first signal recorded in the interviewer's written notes.