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puzzle -Let’s say that you have 25 horses, and you want to pick the fastest 3 horses out of those 25. In each race, only 5 horses can run at the same time because there are only 5 tracks. What is the minimum number of races required to find the 3 fastest horses without using a stopwatch?
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Software Development

Interviewed at Voonik

4★
Jul 7, 2016

puzzle -Let’s say that you have 25 horses, and you want to pick the fastest 3 horses out of those 25. In each race, only 5 horses can run at the same time because there are only 5 tracks. What is the minimum number of races required to find the 3 fastest horses without using a stopwatch?

1. Please write a method to normalize a string which represents a file path. For the purposes of this question, normalizing means: • all single dot components of the path must be removed. For example, "foo/./bar" should be normalized to "foo/bar". • all double dots components of the path must be removed, along with their parent directory. For example, "foo/bar/../baz" should be normalized to "foo/baz". That's it. Normally, a path normalization algorithm would do a lot of other stuff, but for this question, don't try any other kind of normalization or transformation of the path. As an example, "foo//bar" should be normalized to "foo//bar" (i.e. a no-op). Use any language you feel comfortable in, we prefer Java, but it’s not required. The method should take in a string (or whatever passes for a string in the language of your choice) and return a string representing the normalized path. Please write code that you feel proud of and would check in to source control in a professional environment. 2. Once you have completed the exercise, please create ten (or more!) test cases you would you use to test the method.
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Software Development Engineer In Test/QA Engineer

Interviewed at Redfin

3.5★
Jan 26, 2012

1. Please write a method to normalize a string which represents a file path. For the purposes of this question, normalizing means: • all single dot components of the path must be removed. For example, "foo/./bar" should be normalized to "foo/bar". • all double dots components of the path must be removed, along with their parent directory. For example, "foo/bar/../baz" should be normalized to "foo/baz". That's it. Normally, a path normalization algorithm would do a lot of other stuff, but for this question, don't try any other kind of normalization or transformation of the path. As an example, "foo//bar" should be normalized to "foo//bar" (i.e. a no-op). Use any language you feel comfortable in, we prefer Java, but it’s not required. The method should take in a string (or whatever passes for a string in the language of your choice) and return a string representing the normalized path. Please write code that you feel proud of and would check in to source control in a professional environment. 2. Once you have completed the exercise, please create ten (or more!) test cases you would you use to test the method.

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