Question: Google Interview Experience | 2023 Graduate Offcampus
11
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Round 1 | 45 mins Technical + 15 mins (G&L)

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Given Two time series

  • The time series denote the spike that we have to make in discrete manner at that time.
  • The value remains same for all time until the next updated spike.
  • let T1 = [ (0,1) , (3,5) , (7,2) ] and T2 = [ (2,2) , (3,3) , (6,1) ]
  • For T1 , value = 1 for [0,3) , value = 5 for [3,7) , value = 2 for [7,inf)
  • For T2 , value = 0 for [0,2) , value = 2 for [2,3) , value = 3 for [3,6) and value = 1 for [6,inf)
  • We have to return a new List which denotes T1 + T2
  • T1 + T2 = [ (0,1) , (2,3) , (3,8) , (6,6) , (7,3) ]

Some good clarifications i asked :

  • is time and value integer? ( No , can be double)
  • is List sorted based on time? (Yes)
  • Range of time and value? (Assume Infinite)
  • Can there be 2 spikes for same time? (No , time wont be repeated)

  • Inititally misunderstood the question , clarified the question again. (wasted 10mins)

  • Was able to explain and code up a O(N) solution using two pointers.

Follow up questions

  • Lets say we have M such time series , how should we approach?
  • Came up with divide and conquer strategy to split M->M/2->M/4 ....2 and merge them bottom up using code to merge T1+T2.
  • Time Complexity - O(Log(M)*N) , space = O(Log(M)) (recursion stack)

Round 2 , 45mins technical


Implement a Cache management class.

class Cache{
    Cache(int capacity){};

    int get(int key);

    int put(int key , int value);
}

Has fixed capacity and Remove the oldest inserted key if there is size overflow.

Some good clarifications i asked :

  • will key be integer ? (Yes)
  • do we need to handle cases for invalid requests? (example capacity <= 0) ? (Yes)
  • will value be integer? (Yes)

Follow Up questions

  • Implement LRU cache.

Pretty much finished this round in 25mins and had good amount of chat regarding the work i did during my summer internship.


Round 3 , 45mins technical + 15mins G&L


Initial Problem : Easy version

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Follow Up : Hard Version

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Under Progress

Question

Modifiy the input string with following substitutions.

S = "Alice saw a tiger"
subs = [(0,5,"Bob") , (13,18,"cat")]  {L,R,string}
result = "Bob saw a cat"

Some good clarifications i asked :

  • is subs List sorted? (No);
  • Are all characters english alphabets? (Yes);
  • Are the ranges disjoint? (Yes , for now :) )

Approach for initial problem

  • Came up with a binary search solution ,
  • sort the subs List based on L
  • scan through S from left to right and search for match in subs.
  • Replace if there is a match , else append current character and keep scanning.

Follow up

  • The ranges are not disjoint now. ( we should replace with the string of an overlapping range that comes first in subs)
  • subs = [ (4,6,"hi") , (1,2,"bye") , (2,5,"ohho") , (6,6,"hehe")];
  • The range 4,6 overlaps 2,5 which overlaps 1,2 , Hence 1,2 indirectly overlaps 4,6.
  • Now when we reach index 1 in S , we will replace it with "hi" and jump to R = 6.
  • since range (4,6) is the first range in subs that indirectly overlaps with (1,2).

Approach for follow up

  • Came up with a Disjoint set Union solution.
  • Merge those ranges that overlap with each other.
  • Do Union by Size and store the [min_index , minL , maxR] for each component.
  • Make a new merged_subs = [ (minL , maxR , subs[min_index])] for each DSU component.
  • Now the question is same as first question , modifying string with disjoint ranges.

G&L (some i remember)

  • What would you do if your team lacks innovation
  • What if your manager isnt being helpful
  • What if one of your team mates arent speaking up
  • What if your team is not able to figure out on how to implement something.
  • How to bring up innovations ```
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4

Great job solving with good speed, well-asked Clarification questions! Best wishes!

Thanks for sharing the experience honestly with the community, it should be super helpful for all preparing for placements.

ADD REPLYlink 9 months ago
admin
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Question 1 : Solution

Adding 2 Time Series Data

  • First part of the problem is to figure out how to add 2 time series data.
  • Looking on few test cases will help you understand how the summation works and will help you come up with a two-pointer method.
  • The main idea is to append the value to the result whose time is lesser and the magnitude of this point will depend on the magnitude of previously added point.
  • There are few edge cases you might need to handle , but the below code will give you a good idea on the implementation.

Adding K Time Series Data

  • We know how to add two time series data , and adding the K time series in any order should produce the same result.
  • We can use a Divide and Conquer approach to add them.
  • Let Merge( i , j ) = result of adding all time series data from T[i ..... j]
  • Merge(0 , K) -> Merge(0,K/2) + Merge(K/2+1 , K)
  • Base Case = Merge( i , i ) = return T[i]

Complexity

  • O(N) to add two time series.
  • O(NLog(K)) to add K time series of average length N.

Code

ADD COMMENTlink 5 months ago Gigaliths 460

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