Software Engineer · Phone Screen · Coding

Confluent — Software Engineer ✅ Passed

Level: Mid-Level

Round: Phone Screen · Type: Coding · Difficulty: 6/10 · Duration: 60 min · Interviewer: Friendly

Topics: Variadic Functions, Data Structures, Hash Map, Trie

Location: San Francisco Bay Area

Interview date: 2025-05-15

Summary

I was asked to implement a variadic function registration system. The system needs to register functions based on their arguments and handle a variadic flag to match functions accordingly. I initially provided an array-based solution, storing all functions in an array.

Details

The interviewer asked how I would optimize the array-based solution. I suggested using a trie data structure. The interviewer mentioned that while it works, it might be too complex, and many candidates struggle to complete it during the interview. They asked if there was an alternative approach.

I then suggested using a hash map, with the base function signature as the key. The interviewer pointed out that I could use two maps: one for regular functions and another for variadic functions.