Designing an API on Paper | Dataford Interview Questions

Describe how you would design an API on paper before implementation, including the key request and response flows.

Implement order_api_flows to order API operations before implementation. Each operation has a unique name and a list of operations whose responses it requires. Return a deterministic topological ordering, choosing the alphabetically earliest available operation; return [] if a circular dependency exists.

Input is a list of dictionaries with name and depends_on fields. Output is a list of operation names.

Constraints

1 <= operations.length <= 500
Each operation name is a unique non-empty string
Every dependency names another operation in the input
Each dependency appears at most once for an operation
The returned ordering must be deterministic

Function Signature

def order_api_flows(operations):

Your question is Designing an API on Paper. 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

Describe how you would design an API on paper before implementation, including the key request and response flows.

Input is a list of dictionaries with name and depends_on fields. Output is a list of operation names.

Constraints

1 <= operations.length <= 500
Each operation name is a unique non-empty string
Every dependency names another operation in the input
Each dependency appears at most once for an operation
The returned ordering must be deterministic

Function Signature

def order_api_flows(operations):

Your question is Designing an API on Paper. 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.