Open-ended Practical Exercise | Dataford Interview Questions

Open-ended practical exercise: given a written problem statement plus data files, build a working solution in 90 minutes in the language/IDE of your choice and explain why you made your design decisions.

Asked in the technical interview stage. No particular expected solution; the task is not algorithm or trick based. The written statement defines the required input and output for the supplied files, so candidates should clarify assumptions before implementing. Reported follow-up: explain why you made certain decisions.

Minimal Contract

Your program must read the provided files, produce the output required by the written statement, and be runnable from the chosen language and IDE. Document the command, inputs, outputs, assumptions, and representative tests.

Constraints

problem_statement is a string containing the supplied written specification
data_files is a dictionary mapping file names to file contents or file handles
The actual transformation and output format are defined by the supplied written statement
The implementation should be runnable within the 90-minute exercise

Function Signature

def build_solution(problem_statement, data_files):

Your question is Open-ended Practical Exercise. 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

Minimal Contract

Constraints

problem_statement is a string containing the supplied written specification
data_files is a dictionary mapping file names to file contents or file handles
The actual transformation and output format are defined by the supplied written statement
The implementation should be runnable within the 90-minute exercise

Function Signature

def build_solution(problem_statement, data_files):

Your question is Open-ended Practical Exercise. 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.