Software Engineer Co-Op (Summer 2025 Start) – Construction & Engineering

Oracle

You are given an m x n grid where each cell can have one of three values: 0 representing an empty cell, 1 representing a fresh orange, or 2 representing a rotten orange. Every minute, any fresh orange that is 4-directionally adjacent to a rotten orange becomes rotten. Return the minimum number of minutes that must elapse until no cell has a fresh orange. If it is impossible, return -1. For example, consider the following grid: [[2,1,1], [1,1,0], [0,1,1]] In this case, the function should return 4 because it takes 4 minutes for all the fresh oranges to rot. As another example, consider the following grid: [[2,1,1], [0,1,1], [1,0,1]] In this case, the function should return -1 because the orange in the bottom left will never rot. Here's how the rotting process would proceed in the first example: Initial state: [[2,1,1], [1,1,0], [0,1,1]] After 1 minute: [[2,2,1], [2,1,0], [0,1,1]] After 2 minutes: [[2,2,2], [2,2,0], [0,1,1]] After 3 minutes: [[2,2,2], [2,2,0], [0,2,1]] After 4 minutes: [[2,2,2], [2,2,0], [0,2,2]] All fresh oranges are now rotten after 4 minutes. Write a function to solve this problem efficiently. Consider edge cases such as an empty grid or a grid with no fresh oranges initially.

Oracle

Let's say you've developed a new feature for a high-traffic e-commerce website. The feature allows users to save items to a wishlist. You've tested it thoroughly in your development environment, and it seems to be working perfectly. Now, you need to deploy this feature to the production environment, where thousands of users will interact with it simultaneously. Describe the steps you would take to safely and successfully deploy this feature to production.** What are the key considerations you'd keep in mind during each stage of the deployment process?** How would you monitor the feature's performance and identify potential issues after deployment?** What rollback strategies would you have in place if something goes wrong during or after the deployment?** For instance, would you use a blue-green deployment, canary release, or some other strategy? How would you handle database migrations, caching, and potential security vulnerabilities? What metrics would you track to ensure the feature is performing as expected and not negatively impacting the overall site performance? What tools would you use for monitoring and alerting? Finally, how would you communicate the deployment progress and any issues to stakeholders?

Oracle

Describe a time you had to work with a difficult person. What was the situation?** For example, were you working on a team project with a classmate who wasn't pulling their weight? Or perhaps you had a colleague who was constantly negative and bringing down the morale of the team? Who was the difficult person, and what made them difficult?** Was it a personality clash? Did they have different work styles? Were they simply uncooperative or unwilling to compromise? Be specific about their behaviors and how they impacted you and the team. What actions did you take to address the situation?** Did you try to communicate with the person directly? Did you involve a supervisor or mediator? Did you try to find common ground or compromise on solutions? What was the outcome?** Were you able to resolve the conflict and improve the working relationship? If not, what were the consequences? What did you learn from the experience, and how would you handle a similar situation differently in the future?