Software Development Engineer, Retail Pricing

Amazon

Explain the concept of a circular linked list. Describe its advantages and disadvantages compared to a singly linked list. Provide an example of a scenario where a circular linked list would be a suitable data structure, and write code snippets in Python or Java to demonstrate how to insert a node into a circular linked list and traverse the list. Explain how to detect if a circular linked list has a loop.

Amazon

Let's design a turnstile. A turnstile is a type of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. Consider a turnstile at a subway station. There are two panels that rotate to allow a single person passage. The turnstile has two states, Locked and Unlocked, and the customer can either Push the turnstile or Insert a token/card. Here is the state transition table: | Event | Current State | Action | Next State | | :----- | :------------ | :------------- | :--------- | | Push | Locked | | Locked | | Token | Locked | Unlock | Unlocked | | Push | Unlocked | Pass through | Locked | | Token | Unlocked | (discarded) | Unlocked | Requirements: Model the state and behavior of a simple turnstile. Implement two methods: insert_token() push() Consider edge cases and error handling. What happens if someone tries to push without inserting a token? What happens if the system malfunctions? Example: turnstile = Turnstile() print(turnstile.state) # Output: Locked turnstile.push() print(turnstile.state) # Output: Locked turnstile.insert_token() print(turnstile.state) # Output: Unlocked turnstile.push() print(turnstile.state) # Output: Locked How would you approach this design and implementation, keeping in mind scalability, maintainability, and potential future extensions such as different types of tokens or remote unlocking?

Amazon

Describe a time when a plan did not go as expected.