🚀 Ultimate Binary Search Master List for Amazon SDE-1 Prep (Deduplicated & All-in-One, 2022–2026)
Hey LeetCoders! 👋
Binary Search is a powerhouse algo in Amazon interviews—expect it in ~40% of coding rounds, often twisted with matrices, rotations, or "search on answer" patterns. This is the merged, deduplicated master list from Striver's SDE Sheet, Amazon SDE-1 experiences (2022–2025 onsites), plus added onsite variants. No fluff, no categories—just a clean, interview-ready list of 48 unique problems.
I've added LeetCode IDs where available (some are GFG/SPOJ classics or generalizations). Practice these to crush rotated arrays, boundary traps, and optimization questions. Pro tip: Master the universal BS template for 80% of these.
🔍 BINARY SEARCH — MASTER QUESTION LIST (ALL-IN-ONE)
| # | Problem | Difficulty | Key Topics | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Binary Search | Easy | Basic BS | LC 704 |
| 2 | Search Insert Position | Easy | Insertion Point | LC 35 |
| 3 | Find Smallest Letter Greater Than Target | Easy | Ceiling in Sorted Array | LC 744 |
| 4 | Guess Number Higher or Lower | Easy | Interactive BS | LC 374 |
| 5 | First Bad Version | Easy | Minimize API Calls | LC 278 |
| 6 | Search in a Sorted Array of Unknown Size | Medium | Unknown Bounds | LC 702 |
| 7 | Find the Index of the Large Integer | Medium | Unknown Array Access | LC 1533 |
| 8 | Find First and Last Position of Element in Sorted Array | Medium | Bounds in Duplicates | LC 34 |
| 9 | Find Right Interval | Medium | Interval Search | LC 436 |
| 10 | Kth Missing Positive Number | Easy | Missing in Sequence | LC 1539 |
| 11 | H-Index II | Medium | Citation Search | LC 275 |
| 12 | Search in Rotated Sorted Array | Medium | Rotated BS | LC 33 |
| 13 | Search in Rotated Sorted Array II | Medium | Rotated with Duplicates | LC 81 |
| 14 | Find Minimum in Rotated Sorted Array | Medium | Min in Rotated | LC 153 |
| 15 | Find Minimum in Rotated Sorted Array II | Hard | Min in Rotated Duplicates | LC 154 |
| 16 | Single Element in a Sorted Array | Medium | Single in Paired | LC 540 |
| 17 | Find Peak Element | Medium | Peak in Unimodal | LC 162 |
| 18 | Peak Index in a Mountain Array | Medium | Peak in Bitonic | LC 852 |
| 19 | Search a 2D Matrix | Medium | Matrix BS | LC 74 |
| 20 | Search a 2D Matrix II | Medium | Matrix BS Optimized | LC 240 |
| 21 | Count Negative Numbers in a Sorted Matrix | Easy | Matrix Count | LC 1351 |
| 22 | Find K Closest Elements | Medium | Closest in Sorted | LC 658 |
| 23 | Valid Perfect Square | Easy | Square Check | LC 367 |
| 24 | Sqrt(x) | Easy | Integer Square Root | LC 69 |
| 25 | Arranging Coins | Easy | Staircase Rows | LC 441 |
| 26 | Nth Root of a Number | Medium | General Root | (General Problem; No Direct LC - Practice BS on Exponents) |
| 27 | Koko Eating Bananas | Medium | Min Rate | LC 875 |
| 28 | Capacity To Ship Packages Within D Days | Medium | Min Capacity | LC 1011 |
| 29 | Minimum Days to Make M Bouquets | Medium | Min Days | LC 1482 |
| 30 | Split Array Largest Sum | Hard | Min Largest Sum | LC 410 |
| 31 | Allocate Books | Hard | Min Pages | (Similar to LC 410; GFG Variant) |
| 32 | Aggressive Cows | Hard | Max Min Distance | (Similar to LC 1552; SPOJ/GFG) |
| 33 | Minimize Maximum Distance to Gas Station | Hard | Min Max Distance | LC 774 |
| 34 | Magnetic Force Between Two Balls | Medium | Max Min Force | LC 1552 |
| 35 | Find the Smallest Divisor Given a Threshold | Medium | Min Divisor | LC 1283 |
| 36 | Minimum Speed to Arrive on Time | Medium | Min Speed | LC 1870 |
| 37 | Heaters | Medium | Min Radius | LC 475 |
| 38 | Median of Two Sorted Arrays | Hard | Median BS | LC 4 |
| 39 | Find K-th Smallest Pair Distance | Hard | Kth Distance | LC 719 |
| 40 | Find K-th Smallest Number in Multiplication Table | Hard | Kth in Table | LC 668 |
| 41 | Kth Smallest Element in a Sorted Matrix | Medium | Kth in Matrix | LC 378 |
| 42 | Find Peak Element II | Medium | Peak in 2D | LC 1901 |
| 43 | Find the Duplicate Number | Medium | Duplicate BS | LC 287 |
| 44 | Random Pick with Weight | Medium | Weighted Random | LC 528 |
| 45 | Time Based Key-Value Store | Medium | Timestamp BS | LC 981 |
| 46 | Snapshot Array | Medium | Snapshot BS | LC 1146 |
| 47 | Find Kth Smallest in BST | Medium | BST Inorder BS | LC 230 |
| 48 | Minimum Absolute Difference in Sorted Array | Easy | Min Diff Pairs | LC 1200 |
Final Stats:
- Total Binary Search Problems: 48
- Covers: Striver SDE Sheet + Amazon SDE-1 (2022–2025) + Onsite Patterns
- Enough to fully dominate Amazon Binary Search rounds
Amazon Reality Check: In Amazon SDE-1 (up to 2025 data), BS appears directly/indirectly in ~40% of coding rounds. Master rotated arrays, BS on answers, and matrix variants.
#LeetCode #Amazon #SDE1 #BinarySearch #DSA
