Dataford
Interview QuestionsInterview GuidesExperiencesCoaching
New
Pricing
Get started
Dataford
Popular roles
Software EngineerData AnalystData ScientistData EngineerBusiness AnalystAI EngineerMachine Learning EngineerProduct Manager
Browse
Browse All RolesEvery role hub, from analyst to MLBrowse All CompaniesCompany-specific interview loopsAll Interview GuidesThe full guide library
Top questions by role
Software EngineerData AnalystData ScientistData EngineerBusiness AnalystAI EngineerMachine Learning EngineerProduct Manager
Top questions by skill
SQLPythonStatisticsMachine LearningA/B TestingSystem DesignGenerative AIProduct SenseMetricsBehavioral
Browse all questions →Try a mock interview
Experiences
Practice
Mock InterviewsTimed interview simulations with feedbackCoaching1:1 coaching with people at your target companiesSuccess PathYour 6-week structured planModulesCurated lessons by topicWebinarsTalks from ex-Big Tech data leadsPlaygroundA free-form scratch editor
Learn
BlogInterview strategy and career adviceTech Job Market ReportHiring trends across data and AI rolesFor UniversitiesDataford for career centersAbout DatafordWho we are and how we build
Pricing
Build my plan

Advanced JavaScript and Testing

MediumCoding00:00
Practice interviewer
In session
5 left
00:00

Your question is Advanced JavaScript and Testing. Take a moment with it on the right.

Talk me through your thinking if you like. When you're confident, submit your answer and I'll grade it like a real screen (7/10 or better passes).

You need to log in / sign up to chat or submit.

Problem

Disney+Hotstar's playback team fetches manifests for several video quality levels in parallel before starting playback, and caches each one so a later request for the same quality is instant. A teammate's implementation below intermittently returns an empty result list, and duplicate network requests show up in the logs for the same video quality fired moments apart.

let cache = {};

function fetchManifest(quality) {
  return fetch(`/manifests/${quality}.json`).then((res) => res.json());
}

function loadVideoManifests(qualities) {
  const promises = qualities.map((quality) => {
    if (cache[quality]) {
      return cache[quality];
    }
    const promise = fetchManifest(quality)
      .then((data) => {
        cache[quality] = data;
        return data;
      })
      .catch((err) => {
        console.log('manifest failed');
      });
    logFetchStart(quality);
  });

  return Promise.all(promises).then((results) => {
    return results.filter((r) => r !== undefined);
  });
}

function logFetchStart(quality) {
  return fetchAnalytics(quality).then(() => true);
}

Explain what is wrong with how this code handles promises and caching, and describe the unit tests you would write to catch each issue before it reached production.