Compress Structured Text Output | Dataford Interview Questions

How would you handle compression of structured text output in a backend utility? Implement a deterministic compressor that replaces repeated lines with references to their first occurrence when the reference is shorter. Given a list of complete text lines, return a list with the same length, using #REF:<index> for compressed repetitions; input lines never begin with #REF: followed only by digits.

Constraints

0 <= len(lines) <= 1000
0 <= len(lines[i]) <= 10000
Each element is a complete text line represented by a string
No input line matches the pattern #REF:<digits>

Function Signature

def compress_structured_output(lines):

Your question is Compress Structured Text Output. 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

Constraints

0 <= len(lines) <= 1000
0 <= len(lines[i]) <= 10000
Each element is a complete text line represented by a string
No input line matches the pattern #REF:<digits>

Function Signature

def compress_structured_output(lines):

Your question is Compress Structured Text Output. 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.