Software Engineer, Systems

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Write code to parse regular expressions including * (0 or more characters), + (1 or more characters), and . (1 exact character). For example: parse(a., ab) should return true. parse(a*, aaa) should return true. parse(a+, a) should return true. parse(a+, ) should return false. parse(a.*b, axyzb) should return true. parse(a.*b, axyz) should return false. parse(abc, abc) should return true. parse(abc, abd) should return false. Your function should take two strings as input: the regular expression and the string to match against. It should return a boolean indicating whether the string matches the regular expression. Focus on handling the special characters ., *, and +. Assume that other characters in the regular expression must match literally. Explain your approach and provide a clear, well-documented code implementation. Consider edge cases such as empty strings and null inputs. Also think about the time and space complexity of your solution, and try to optimize it for performance. Can you provide a solution using dynamic programming?

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Let's design a system for URL shortening, like TinyURL. Consider the following: Functional Requirements: Users should be able to enter a long URL and get a shorter URL. Users should be able to access the original URL by visiting the shortened URL. The system should be highly available and handle a large number of requests. Analytics: Track the number of times a shortened URL is accessed. Non-Functional Requirements: The system should have low latency for both URL shortening and redirection. The shortened URLs should be relatively short. The system should be reliable and fault-tolerant. Considerations: How would you handle collisions (when two different long URLs map to the same short URL)? How would you design the data store to efficiently handle a large number of URLs? How would you scale the system to handle a large number of requests? What algorithms could be used for generating the short URLs? Discuss the trade-offs. Walk me through the architectural components, data model, and scaling strategies for this URL shortening service. For instance, if a user inputs https://www.example.com/very/long/path/to/resource, the system might generate a short URL like https://short.url/xyz123. When a user visits https://short.url/xyz123, they should be redirected to the original URL.

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Tell me about your best project. To provide a comprehensive overview, please address the following points: Project Overview: What was the project's purpose and goals? What problem did it solve or what opportunity did it address? Who was the target audience or end-user? Your Role and Responsibilities: Describe your specific role within the project team. What were your key responsibilities and contributions? Did you lead any specific aspects of the project? If so, elaborate. Technical Details: What technologies, languages, and frameworks did you use? Describe the architecture and design of the system. Were there any interesting or challenging technical aspects? Challenges and Solutions: What were the major challenges you faced during the project? How did you overcome these challenges? Be specific about the solutions you implemented. Did you have to make any trade-offs or compromises? Explain why. Outcomes and Impact: What were the measurable outcomes of the project? How did the project impact the organization or its users? Did the project achieve its intended goals? Lessons Learned: What did you learn from this project? What would you do differently if you were to undertake a similar project again? How has this project influenced your approach to software development? For example, if you developed an e-commerce platform, you might discuss how you implemented a scalable microservices architecture to handle high traffic, or how you used machine learning to personalize product recommendations. Be prepared to discuss technical details, challenges you faced, and the impact your project had on the users or the business. Focus on projects where you played a significant role and can demonstrate your technical skills and problem-solving abilities.