Compute most popular location with weights

Q: How do I practice SQL interview questions?

PracHub provides an interactive SQL console where you can write and test queries against real database schemas. Get instant feedback and compare your solution with the expected output.

Q: What difficulty level is this coding question?

This is a medium difficulty Data Manipulation (SQL/Python) question, commonly asked during Technical Screen rounds at Microsoft.

Q: What role is this question designed for?

This question is commonly asked for Software Engineer candidates at Microsoft during technical interviews.

Question

You are given a dataset of voting records for concert locations. Each record includes voter_id, location_text, and an optional numeric weight (default
1). Write SQL and/or Python to compute the most popular location by total vote weight. Explain how you handle ties, missing or malformed location_text, and verify correctness with a small example. Analyze the time and space complexity of your solution.

PracHub · Accepted Answer

This question evaluates a candidate's ability to perform weighted aggregation, data cleaning, tie-breaking logic, and handling of malformed or missing text fields using SQL and/or Python.

Quick Overview

Compute most popular location with weights