Search in Rotated Sorted Array at Amazon — Interview Guide

• At each mid, one half is always sorted; identify it by comparing nums[mid] with nums[left].
• If the target lies in the sorted half, search there; otherwise search the other half.
• Handle duplicates carefully — when nums[left] == nums[mid] you cannot tell which side is sorted.

def search(nums, target):
    l, r = 0, len(nums) - 1
    while l <= r:
        m = (l + r) // 2
        if nums[m] == target: return m
        if nums[l] <= nums[m]:
            if nums[l] <= target < nums[m]: r = m - 1
            else: l = m + 1
        else:
            if nums[m] < target <= nums[r]: l = m + 1
            else: r = m - 1
    return -1

• Customer obsession — start from the customer and work backward.
• Ownership — think long-term and act on behalf of the whole company.
• Bias for action — make decisions with incomplete data and ship.
• Dive deep — understand the details behind any metric you cite.
• Deliver results — focus on the right inputs and hit commitments.