Mini Package Manager Simulation | Dataford Interview Questions

Claude Code needs a lightweight package manager that installs requested packages only after all of their dependencies are installed. Given a package dependency graph and requested package names, return a valid installation order, or None if a dependency is missing or the graph contains a cycle.

Dependencies must appear before the package that requires them. Preserve the order of dependencies listed in the input, and process requested packages in the order provided. Each package should appear at most once in the result.

Formal Specification

Implement resolve_dependencies(packages, requested), where packages is a dictionary mapping a package name to a list of dependency names, and requested is a list of package names. Return a list of package names in installation order, or None when resolution is impossible.

Constraints

0 <= len(packages) <= 10^4
The total number of dependency entries is at most 5 * 10^4
Package names are non-empty strings
A dependency may be missing from packages
Dependency lists contain no duplicate names

Function Signature

def resolve_dependencies(packages, requested):

Your question is Mini Package Manager Simulation. 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

Formal Specification

Constraints

0 <= len(packages) <= 10^4
The total number of dependency entries is at most 5 * 10^4
Package names are non-empty strings
A dependency may be missing from packages
Dependency lists contain no duplicate names

Function Signature

def resolve_dependencies(packages, requested):

Your question is Mini Package Manager Simulation. 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.