Best 5-Card Hand From N Cards | Dataford Interview Questions

A Terra workflow validation utility receives a collection of unique playing cards and must identify the strongest possible five-card poker hand. Implement a function that returns the selected cards' original indices in ascending order.

Formal Specification

Each card is a two-character string: a rank from 2 through 9, T, J, Q, K, or A, followed by a suit from C, D, H, or S. The input contains at least five cards and may be in any order.

Return the indices of the best five-card hand. Rank hands using standard poker categories, from strongest to weakest: straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, and high card. Resolve ties using the standard rank tie-breakers. If multiple selections have exactly the same poker value, return the lexicographically smallest sorted index list.

Constraints

5 <= len(cards) <= 25
Each card is a two-character string with a valid rank and suit
All cards are unique
Aces can be high or low only when forming a straight
Return exactly five indices in ascending order

Function Signature

def best_five_indices(cards):

Your question is Best 5-Card Hand From N Cards. Start with the requirements in the Question tab.

Run and submit as often as you like. When you're ready, talk me through your approach or go straight to the code.

Problem

Formal Specification

Constraints

5 <= len(cards) <= 25
Each card is a two-character string with a valid rank and suit
All cards are unique
Aces can be high or low only when forming a straight
Return exactly five indices in ascending order

Function Signature

def best_five_indices(cards):

Your question is Best 5-Card Hand From N Cards. Start with the requirements in the Question tab.

Run and submit as often as you like. When you're ready, talk me through your approach or go straight to the code.