Medium data structure and algorithm practice puzzle.
Given a list of weights and a limit, return the biggest total you can make from some of them without going over the limit. Try every subset with recursion: at each weight, try taking it and try skipping it. The moment a total goes over the limit, stop exploring that branch. That early cut is what makes backtracking faster than brute force.
Solve it three ways: snap the jigsaw pieces together, fill in the blanks, or type it from scratch against the tests. This one is free.
Every line of the solution comes with a note explaining why it is there, and a step by step replay shows the code running. At level 3, where you type it yourself, you can ask for an AI mock interview on this problem that ends with a hiring manager's scorecard.
Then grow it into a real project with the Software Engineer button: this puzzle becomes the Reading Sampler, a pipeline you can run and download. See every Software Engineer project.
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