Go Ping Pong | Dataford Interview Questions

Write Go code where two goroutines play ping pong, each holding the ball for a random few seconds; after a timeout the goroutine holding the ball wins.

Asked in the round 1 stage. Implement the equivalent behavior as ping_pong_winner(timeout, hold_times, seed), using deterministic hold_times when provided and seeded random durations afterward. Player 0 starts with the ball. Return 0 or 1, the player holding the ball when the timeout expires. A handoff exactly at the deadline is completed before determining the winner.

Constraints

timeout >= 0
hold_times contains nonnegative numbers
seed is an integer or null
If hold_times is exhausted, generated durations are in [1.0, 3.0]

Function Signature

def ping_pong_winner(timeout, hold_times, seed):

Your question is Go Ping Pong. 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

Write Go code where two goroutines play ping pong, each holding the ball for a random few seconds; after a timeout the goroutine holding the ball wins.

Constraints

timeout >= 0
hold_times contains nonnegative numbers
seed is an integer or null
If hold_times is exhausted, generated durations are in [1.0, 3.0]

Function Signature

def ping_pong_winner(timeout, hold_times, seed):

Your question is Go Ping Pong. 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.