Technical Program Manager, Submarine Networks

Google

Let's explore some string manipulation algorithms. Suppose you are given a string s and you need to reverse the order of words in the string. Each word is separated by a single space, and there are no leading or trailing spaces. For example, if the input string s is the sky is blue, the expected output is blue is sky the. Write a function that takes a string s as input and returns a new string with the words in reversed order. Explain your approach. What is the time and space complexity of your algorithm? Provide example test cases to demonstrate that your function works correctly, including edge cases such as an empty string or a string with only one word. As a follow-up, consider a more complex scenario where the input string s might contain leading or trailing spaces, or multiple spaces between words. How would you modify your algorithm to handle these cases while still producing the correct reversed word order? For instance, given the input hello world , the output should be world hello. Describe the changes needed and analyze the updated time and space complexity.

Google

API Design Question: E-commerce Product Catalog Let's design a simplified API for an e-commerce product catalog. Imagine you're building the backend for a website like Amazon or Etsy, focusing specifically on how products are stored and retrieved. This API will allow client applications (like web browsers or mobile apps) to browse, search, and view product details. Define the Core Entities: What are the essential attributes of a Product? Consider attributes like product_id, name, description, price, category, image_url, and inventory_count. Are there other attributes you would include? Justify your choices. Design the API Endpoints: Propose the main API endpoints for interacting with the product catalog. Focus on the following functionalities. Provide example requests and responses (in JSON format) for each endpoint: Retrieve a product by ID: (/products/{product_id}) Search for products: (/products?keyword=example&category=example) List products by category: (/categories/{category_name}/products) Considerations: How would you handle pagination for large product lists? How would you implement filtering and sorting options in the search endpoint? (e.g., filter by price range, sort by popularity). How would you handle different image sizes and formats? Example Scenario: A user searches for red shoes on the website. Describe how the API would be used to fulfill this request, including the specific endpoint called, the parameters passed, and the format of the expected response.

Google

Tell me about a time you faced a significant challenge and how you overcame it. To provide a detailed response, please consider the following: Describe the challenge:** What specific obstacles did you encounter? What made it difficult to handle? Explain your actions:** What steps did you take to address the challenge? What resources did you utilize? Did you seek help from others? Highlight your thought process:** What were your considerations when deciding on a course of action? What alternatives did you consider, and why did you choose your particular approach? Detail the outcome:** What was the result of your efforts? Did you successfully overcome the challenge? If so, what did you learn from the experience? If not, what would you do differently next time? For example, perhaps you were working on a complex software project with a tight deadline and encountered unexpected technical difficulties. Or, maybe you had to mediate a conflict between team members with differing opinions on how to approach a problem. Another example could involve learning a new programming language or technology in a short timeframe to meet a critical project requirement. When answering, be sure to provide enough context so the interviewer understands the situation and can assess your problem-solving skills, resilience, and ability to learn from challenges.