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Find first CIDR block covering IP | Databricks Coding Question

Q: Find first CIDR block covering IP

This question evaluates a candidate's understanding of IPv4 and CIDR notation, ability to perform prefix-based address containment checks using bitwise reasoning, and competence in parsing and efficient lookup across many ranges.

Find first CIDR block covering IP

Company: Databricks

Role: Software Engineer

Category: Coding & Algorithms

Difficulty: medium

Interview Round: Technical Screen

You are given: - A single IPv4 address as a string, e.g. `"192.168.1.5"`. - A list of CIDR blocks (IPv4), each as a string in the form `"a.b.c.d/x"`, where `0 <= a,b,c,d <= 255` and `0 <= x <= 32`. Each CIDR block `a.b.c.d/x` represents all IP addresses whose first `x` bits are identical to the first `x` bits of the base address `a.b.c.d`. Task: Return the **first** CIDR block in the given list that covers (contains) the given IP address. If none of the CIDR blocks contains the IP, return some designated value such as `null` or an empty string. Clarifications: - "First" means the first element in the input list order that matches. - Assume IPv4 only. - You may assume the input strings are syntactically valid. - Aim for an efficient solution that can handle up to, for example, 10^5 CIDR blocks. Define clearly what you return when there is no matching CIDR.

Quick Answer: This question evaluates a candidate's understanding of IPv4 and CIDR notation, ability to perform prefix-based address containment checks using bitwise reasoning, and competence in parsing and efficient lookup across many ranges.

You are given an IPv4 address as a string and a list of IPv4 CIDR blocks. Return the first CIDR block in the given list that contains the IP address. If no block matches, return an empty string "". A CIDR block has the form "a.b.c.d/x", where x is the prefix length. It covers all IPv4 addresses whose first x bits match the first x bits of the base address a.b.c.d. Important: return the first matching block in the original input order, not the most specific one.

Constraints

0 <= len(cidr_blocks) <= 10^5
Each IPv4 address has exactly 4 octets, and each octet is between 0 and 255
Each prefix length x satisfies 0 <= x <= 32
All input strings are syntactically valid IPv4 and CIDR strings

Examples

Input: ("192.168.1.5", ["10.0.0.0/8", "192.168.1.0/24", "192.168.0.0/16"])

Expected Output: "192.168.1.0/24"

Explanation: The IP does not match 10.0.0.0/8, but it does match 192.168.1.0/24. Even though it also matches 192.168.0.0/16, the first match must be returned.

Input: ("10.1.2.3", ["10.0.0.0/8", "10.1.2.0/24"])

Expected Output: "10.0.0.0/8"

Explanation: Both CIDR blocks contain the IP, but the first matching block in list order is 10.0.0.0/8.

Input: ("8.8.8.8", ["192.168.0.0/16", "10.0.0.0/8"])

Expected Output: ""

Explanation: The IP does not belong to either block, so the function returns an empty string.

Input: ("203.0.113.9", ["1.2.3.4/32", "0.0.0.0/0"])

Expected Output: "0.0.0.0/0"

Explanation: A /32 block matches only one exact IP, so the first block does not match. A /0 block matches every IPv4 address.

Input: ("1.2.3.4", ["1.2.3.5/32", "1.2.3.4/32"])

Expected Output: "1.2.3.4/32"

Explanation: The first block is an exact match for a different IP, so it fails. The second block exactly matches the input IP.

Input: ("192.168.1.130", ["192.168.1.129/25"])

Expected Output: "192.168.1.129/25"

Explanation: Only the first 25 bits matter. Even though the base address is not network-aligned, both addresses share the same first 25 bits, so it matches.

Input: ("10.0.0.1", [])

Expected Output: ""

Explanation: With no CIDR blocks provided, there is no possible match.

Hints

Convert each IPv4 address into a 32-bit integer so prefix comparisons become simple bit operations.
For a CIDR prefix length x, build a mask with x leading 1 bits. Two addresses are in the same block if their masked values are equal.

Quick Overview

This question evaluates a candidate's understanding of IPv4 and CIDR notation, ability to perform prefix-based address containment checks using bitwise reasoning, and competence in parsing and efficient lookup across many ranges.