Introduction to Sliding Window
Last Updated: May 30, 2026
Sliding window is a problem-solving pattern where you use two pointers to define a "window" and slide them over a data structure, typically an array or a string, to find subarrays or substrings that meet a certain requirement.
This approach can reduce the time complexity of many array and string problems from O(n²) to O(n).
In this chapter, I'll break down:
- what the Sliding window pattern is
- when to use it
- how it works
- Different types of Sliding Windows
- Generic template for solving sliding window problems