Manage Files in Code | Dataford Interview Questions

Describe how you manage files with a program, including design and implementation details.

Implement a FileManager class that supports file creation, content updates, reads, deletion, and listing by path prefix. Focus on the data structures and algorithms used to keep operations efficient and the code easy to extend.

Functionality

create(path): create an empty file if it does not already exist
write(path, content): append content to the file at path
read(path): return the current file content
delete(path): remove the file if it exists
list(prefix): return all file paths that start with prefix, in lexicographic order

Constraints

1 <= len(operations) <= 10^5
Each operation is one of: create, write, read, delete, list
Paths are normalized and non-empty
Content length per write is at most 10^4
Total stored content across all files is at most 10^6 characters

Function Signature

def manage_files(operations):

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