Debounced Search with Cached Results | Dataford Interview Questions

Implement a function that powers a debounced search feature over a list of strings. Given a sequence of timestamped query updates and a dictionary of searchable items, return the search results emitted after debouncing each burst of input. Matching must be case-insensitive and based on substring containment. Repeated queries should reuse cached results instead of recomputing them.

Constraints

1 <= len(items) <= 10^4
1 <= len(events) <= 10^5
0 <= timestamp <= 10^9, strictly increasing
1 <= debounce_ms <= 10^6
Each query and item contains only ASCII letters and has length 0..50

Function Signature

def debounced_search(items, events, debounce_ms):

Your question is Debounced Search with Cached Results. Start with the requirements in the Question tab.

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Problem

Constraints

1 <= len(items) <= 10^4
1 <= len(events) <= 10^5
0 <= timestamp <= 10^9, strictly increasing
1 <= debounce_ms <= 10^6
Each query and item contains only ASCII letters and has length 0..50

Function Signature

def debounced_search(items, events, debounce_ms):

Your question is Debounced Search with Cached Results. 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.