I recently completed an **IBM Online Assessment** and wanted to share the coding questions I encountered.

Platform:HackerRank
Time:70 minutes

## Question 1 – Make the Array Alternating in Parity

Given an array of positive integers, find the **minimum number of operations** required to make the array alternate in parity.

The final array can follow either of these patterns:

* `Odd, Even, Odd, Even, ...`
* `Even, Odd, Even, Odd, ...`

### Operation

In one operation, you can replace any element:

`nums[i] = floor(nums[i] / 2)`

You can perform the operation on the same element multiple times.

### Example

```text
nums = [6, 12, 5, 10]
```

For the pattern:

```text
Even, Odd, Even, Odd
```

We can transform:

```text
6  -> 6       (Even)
12 -> 6 -> 3  (Odd)   -> 2 operations
5  -> 2       (Even)  -> 1 operation
10 -> 10      (Even)
```

So the total is:

```text
3 operations
```

```text

For the pattern:
odd, even, odd, even
```

We can transform:

```text
6  -> 3       (odd) -> 1 operations
12 ->         (Even)  
5  -> 2       (odd)  
10 -> 10      (Even)
```

So the answer is:

```text
1 operation
```

Another example:

```text

nums = [3, 12, 5, 10]
```

The array is already:

```text
Odd, Even, Odd, Even
```

so the answer is:

```text
0
```

If considering a transformation such as:

```text
6 -> 3
```

that costs one operation.

### Constraints

```text
1 <= nums.size() < 10^5
nums[i] > 0
```

---

## Question 2 – Maximum Number of Valid Pairs

Given two arrays `arr1` and `arr2`, and an integer `d`, form the **maximum number of pairs** `(arr1[i], arr2[j])` satisfying:

```text
arr1[i] <= arr2[j] <= arr1[i] + d
```

Each element can be used in **at most one pair**.

### Example

```text
arr1 = [8, 20, 35, 45]
arr2 = [25, 50]
d = 10
```

Possible valid pairs include:

```text
(20, 25)   because 20 <= 25 <= 30

(45, 50)   because 45 <= 50 <= 55
```

Therefore:

```text
Answer = 2
```

### Constraints

```text
1 <= arr1.size(), arr2.size() <= 10^5
1 <= d <= 10^5
```



---

These were the **two coding questions** I encountered in my IBM OA.

**I used AI tool to enhance the post but the question I share is based on my personal recollection**
**I takes some valuable time to write this post so i requested to like ,share and also I am available to answer any comments.**

IBM OA Experience – On Campus-Two Coding Questions






I recently completed an IBM Online Assessment and wanted to share the coding questions I encountered.Platform:HackerRank
Time:70 minutesQuestion 1 – Make the Array Alternating in ParityGiven an array of positive integers, find the minimum number of o