Practice Arena

Python Coding Challenges

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925 challenges 556 easy 323 medium 46 hard
Matrix & 2D Arrays easy

Valid Sudoku Board

Determine if a 9x9 Sudoku board is valid by checking rows, columns, and 3x3 sub-boxes.

matrix set validation
+10 pts 15m
Matrix & 2D Arrays medium

Number of Islands

Given a 2D grid of '1' (land) and '0' (water), count the number of islands surrounded by water.

matrix graph bfs
+25 pts 30m
Matrix & 2D Arrays medium

Max Area of Island

Given a 2D grid of 0s and 1s, find the maximum area of a connected group of 1s.

grid dfs connected-components
+20 pts 25m
Matrix & 2D Arrays medium

01 Matrix Nearest Zero

Given a binary matrix, return a matrix of the same shape where each cell contains the Manhattan distance to the nearest 0.

matrix bfs distance
+25 pts 30m
Matrix & 2D Arrays medium

Rotting Oranges Time

Given a grid of fresh, rotten, and empty cells, compute the minimum minutes until all fresh oranges rot, or -1 if some are unreachable.

bfs grid simulation
+25 pts 25m
Matrix & 2D Arrays medium

Spiral Matrix Traversal

Implement a function that returns the elements of a 2D matrix in clockwise spiral order.

matrix traversal simulation
+20 pts 25m
Matrix & 2D Arrays easy

Rotate Image 90 Degrees Clockwise

Rotate a square matrix 90 degrees clockwise and return the rotated matrix.

matrix rotation in-place
+10 pts 15m
Matrix & 2D Arrays medium

Search a 2D Matrix II

Implement an efficient search for a target in a matrix where each row and each column is sorted in ascending order.

matrix binary-search search
+20 pts 20m
Matrix & 2D Arrays easy

Valid Sudoku Validator

Determine if a given 9x9 Sudoku board is valid by checking rows, columns, and 3x3 boxes.

matrix validation set
+10 pts 15m
Matrix & 2D Arrays medium

Number of Islands in a Matrix

Count the number of distinct islands (connected groups of 1s) in a 2D binary matrix.

matrix dfs bfs
+20 pts 20m
Matrix & 2D Arrays medium

Shortest Path in Binary Matrix

Compute the shortest path length from top-left to bottom-right in a binary matrix using 8-directional moves.

matrix bfs shortest-path
+30 pts 25m
Matrix & 2D Arrays medium

Count square submatrices with all ones

Count all square submatrices consisting entirely of 1s in a binary matrix.

matrix dynamic-programming counting
+25 pts 25m
Matrix & 2D Arrays medium

Largest Plus Sign

Compute the largest possible plus sign of 1s in an n x n grid with some cells set to 0.

matrix dynamic-programming simulation
+25 pts 30m
Matrix & 2D Arrays easy

Toeplitz Matrix Check

Write a function is_toeplitz(matrix) that checks if a 2D list is a Toeplitz matrix, where all elements on the same diagonal from top-left to bottom-right are identical.

matrix array diagonal
+10 pts 15m
Matrix & 2D Arrays easy

Diagonal Traverse Matrix

Implement a function that returns all elements of a matrix in diagonal zigzag order.

matrix traversal array
+12 pts 20m
Matrix & 2D Arrays medium

Shift 2D Grid

Implement a function to shift a 2D grid right by k positions, flattening the grid and wrapping elements.

grid list modulo
+20 pts 20m
Matrix & 2D Arrays medium

Matrix Block Sum

Given a 2D matrix and a block size, compute the sum of each block centered at every cell.

matrix prefix-sum 2d-array
+25 pts 25m
Matrix & 2D Arrays easy

Transpose Matrix In-Place

Implement a function that transposes a square matrix in-place and returns the transposed matrix.

matrix transpose in-place
+8 pts 12m
Matrix & 2D Arrays medium

Rotate Matrix Layers

Given a square matrix, rotate each concentric layer 90 degrees clockwise.

matrix rotation in-place
+25 pts 30m
Matrix & 2D Arrays medium

Word Search Matrix

Given a 2D board and a word, determine if the word can be formed by sequentially adjacent cells (horizontally or vertically), without reusing cells.

matrix dfs strings
+25 pts 30m
Matrix & 2D Arrays easy

Matrix Multiply 2D

Write a function that multiplies two 2D matrices (lists of lists) and returns the product matrix.

matrix multiplication nested-loops
+8 pts 10m
Matrix & 2D Arrays easy

Transpose 2D Array

Implement a function that returns the transpose of a rectangular 2D list.

matrix transpose nested-lists
+10 pts 10m
Matrix & 2D Arrays medium

Pacific Atlantic Flow

Given a height matrix, return all cells from which water can flow to both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

matrix bfs grid
+25 pts 25m
Matrix & 2D Arrays easy

Flipping an Image

Implement a function that flips an image represented as a binary matrix by reversing each row and inverting each pixel.

matrix list-comprehension bitwise
+10 pts 15m

Showing 817–840 of 925 challenges

Guide: free Python coding challenges

Practice Python by solving problems

PythonSkillset challenges are hands-on coding exercises from beginner to advanced. Open a challenge, read the problem, write Python in the split-pane editor, and run tests with Pyodide — no install required.

How to use the arena

  1. Pick a category — basics, algorithms, strings, and more
  2. Open a challenge, read the statement, and edit the starter code
  3. Run tests, fix failures, then try a related quiz or tutorial lesson

Challenges vs tutorials and quizzes

Challenges test what you can build under constraints. For guided teaching, use our Python tutorials. For quick checks, try quizzes or copy snippets from code samples.