LeetCode #746 — EASY

Min Cost Climbing Stairs

Build confidence with an intuition-first walkthrough focused on array fundamentals.

The Problem

Problem Statement

You are given an integer array cost where cost[i] is the cost of i^th step on a staircase. Once you pay the cost, you can either climb one or two steps.

You can either start from the step with index 0, or the step with index 1.

Return the minimum cost to reach the top of the floor.

Example 1:

Input: cost = [10,15,20]
Output: 15
Explanation: You will start at index 1.
- Pay 15 and climb two steps to reach the top.
The total cost is 15.

Example 2:

Input: cost = [1,100,1,1,1,100,1,1,100,1]
Output: 6
Explanation: You will start at index 0.
- Pay 1 and climb two steps to reach index 2.
- Pay 1 and climb two steps to reach index 4.
- Pay 1 and climb two steps to reach index 6.
- Pay 1 and climb one step to reach index 7.
- Pay 1 and climb two steps to reach index 9.
- Pay 1 and climb one step to reach the top.
The total cost is 6.

Constraints:

2 <= cost.length <= 1000
0 <= cost[i] <= 999

Step 01

Brute Force Baseline

Problem summary: You are given an integer array cost where cost[i] is the cost of ith step on a staircase. Once you pay the cost, you can either climb one or two steps. You can either start from the step with index 0, or the step with index 1. Return the minimum cost to reach the top of the floor.

Baseline thinking

Start with the most direct exhaustive search. That gives a correctness anchor before optimizing.

Pattern signal: Array · Dynamic Programming

Example 1

[10,15,20]

Example 2

[1,100,1,1,1,100,1,1,100,1]

Core Insight

What unlocks the optimal approach

Build an array dp where dp[i] is the minimum cost to climb to the top starting from the ith staircase.
Assuming we have n staircase labeled from 0 to n - 1 and assuming the top is n, then dp[n] = 0, marking that if you are at the top, the cost is 0.
Now, looping from n - 1 to 0, the dp[i] = cost[i] + min(dp[i + 1], dp[i + 2]). The answer will be the minimum of dp[0] and dp[1]

Interview move: turn each hint into an invariant you can check after every iteration/recursion step.

Step 03

Algorithm Walkthrough

Iteration Checklist

Define state (indices, window, stack, map, DP cell, or recursion frame).
Apply one transition step and update the invariant.
Record answer candidate when condition is met.
Continue until all input is consumed.

Use the first example testcase as your mental trace to verify each transition.

Step 04

Edge Cases

Minimum Input

Single element / shortest valid input

Validate boundary behavior before entering the main loop or recursion.

Duplicates & Repeats

Repeated values / repeated states

Decide whether duplicates should be merged, skipped, or counted explicitly.

Extreme Constraints

Upper-end input sizes

Re-check complexity target against constraints to avoid time-limit issues.

Invalid / Corner Shape

Empty collections, zeros, or disconnected structures

Handle special-case structure before the core algorithm path.

Step 05

Full Annotated Code

Source-backed implementations are provided below for direct study and interview prep.

// Accepted solution for LeetCode #746: Min Cost Climbing Stairs
class Solution {
    private Integer[] f;
    private int[] cost;

    public int minCostClimbingStairs(int[] cost) {
        this.cost = cost;
        f = new Integer[cost.length];
        return Math.min(dfs(0), dfs(1));
    }

    private int dfs(int i) {
        if (i >= cost.length) {
            return 0;
        }
        if (f[i] == null) {
            f[i] = cost[i] + Math.min(dfs(i + 1), dfs(i + 2));
        }
        return f[i];
    }
}

// Accepted solution for LeetCode #746: Min Cost Climbing Stairs
func minCostClimbingStairs(cost []int) int {
	n := len(cost)
	f := make([]int, n)
	for i := range f {
		f[i] = -1
	}
	var dfs func(int) int
	dfs = func(i int) int {
		if i >= n {
			return 0
		}
		if f[i] < 0 {
			f[i] = cost[i] + min(dfs(i+1), dfs(i+2))
		}
		return f[i]
	}
	return min(dfs(0), dfs(1))
}

# Accepted solution for LeetCode #746: Min Cost Climbing Stairs
class Solution:
    def minCostClimbingStairs(self, cost: List[int]) -> int:
        @cache
        def dfs(i: int) -> int:
            if i >= len(cost):
                return 0
            return cost[i] + min(dfs(i + 1), dfs(i + 2))

        return min(dfs(0), dfs(1))

// Accepted solution for LeetCode #746: Min Cost Climbing Stairs
impl Solution {
    pub fn min_cost_climbing_stairs(cost: Vec<i32>) -> i32 {
        let n = cost.len();
        let mut f = vec![-1; n];

        fn dfs(i: usize, cost: &Vec<i32>, f: &mut Vec<i32>, n: usize) -> i32 {
            if i >= n {
                return 0;
            }
            if f[i] < 0 {
                let next1 = dfs(i + 1, cost, f, n);
                let next2 = dfs(i + 2, cost, f, n);
                f[i] = cost[i] + next1.min(next2);
            }
            f[i]
        }

        dfs(0, &cost, &mut f, n).min(dfs(1, &cost, &mut f, n))
    }
}

// Accepted solution for LeetCode #746: Min Cost Climbing Stairs
function minCostClimbingStairs(cost: number[]): number {
    const n = cost.length;
    const f: number[] = Array(n).fill(-1);
    const dfs = (i: number): number => {
        if (i >= n) {
            return 0;
        }
        if (f[i] < 0) {
            f[i] = cost[i] + Math.min(dfs(i + 1), dfs(i + 2));
        }
        return f[i];
    };
    return Math.min(dfs(0), dfs(1));
}

Step 06

Interactive Study Demo

Use this to step through a reusable interview workflow for this problem.

Custom checkpoints (one per line)

Press Step or Run All to begin.

Step 07

Complexity Analysis

Time

O(n)

Space

O(n)

Approach Breakdown

RECURSIVE

O(2ⁿ) time

O(n) space

Pure recursion explores every possible choice at each step. With two choices per state (take or skip), the decision tree has 2ⁿ leaves. The recursion stack uses O(n) space. Many subproblems are recomputed exponentially many times.

DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING

O(n × m) time

O(n × m) space

Each cell in the DP table is computed exactly once from previously solved subproblems. The table dimensions determine both time and space. Look for the state variables — each unique combination of state values is one cell. Often a rolling array can reduce space by one dimension.

Shortcut: Count your DP state dimensions → that’s your time. Can you drop one? That’s your space optimization.

Coach Notes

Common Mistakes

Review these before coding to avoid predictable interview regressions.

Off-by-one on range boundaries

Wrong move: Loop endpoints miss first/last candidate.

Usually fails on: Fails on minimal arrays and exact-boundary answers.

Fix: Re-derive loops from inclusive/exclusive ranges before coding.

State misses one required dimension

Wrong move: An incomplete state merges distinct subproblems and caches incorrect answers.

Usually fails on: Correctness breaks on cases that differ only in hidden state.

Fix: Define state so each unique subproblem maps to one DP cell.