Swap Integers Without Temp | Dataford Interview Questions

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Problem

Pega Platform rule processing may need to exchange two integer values while evaluating a lightweight algorithmic step. Implement a function that swaps two integers without declaring or using an explicit temporary variable.

The function must return the values in reversed order. Do not rely on global state, input mutation, string conversion, or arithmetic operations that could overflow in fixed-width languages.

Formal Specification

Implement swap_integers(a, b):

Input: Two integers, a and b.
Output: A two-element tuple containing (b, a).
Restriction: Do not declare or use a temporary variable to hold either value during the swap.

Python tuple assignment is allowed. The returned values must be correct when the integers are equal, negative, zero, or very large.

Constraints

-10^18 <= a, b <= 10^18
Inputs are valid Python integers
The function must use O(1) additional space
The function must not use an explicit temporary variable

Function Signature

def swap_integers(a, b):