Linux Path Simplification

EasyPython

Problem

Meta's Linux-based production hosts receive paths from command-line tooling that may contain redundant separators and directory references. Implement a function that returns the canonical form of an absolute Linux path.

Resolve the path using these rules:

Consecutive / characters act as one separator.
A . component means the current directory and should be removed.
A .. component moves to the parent directory. If the path is already at /, remain at /.
Any other component is a directory name and should be preserved.
The result must begin with exactly one / and must not end with /, unless the result is the root path /.

Formal Specification

Given a string path containing an absolute Linux path, return a string containing its canonical absolute path. Directory names do not contain /; names such as ... or file.. are ordinary directory names.

Constraints

1 <= len(path) <= 10^4
path begins with /
Components contain printable non-slash characters
The path may contain repeated /, ., and .. components

Function Signature

def simplify_path(path):

Resolve the path using these rules:

Consecutive / characters act as one separator.
A . component means the current directory and should be removed.
A .. component moves to the parent directory. If the path is already at /, remain at /.
Any other component is a directory name and should be preserved.
The result must begin with exactly one / and must not end with /, unless the result is the root path /.