Design Tree Operations with DFS and BFS
Company: Coreweave
Role: Software Engineer
Category: Software Engineering Fundamentals
Difficulty: Average
Interview Round: Onsite
Design an object-oriented tree class with several operations that require DFS and BFS traversal. Explain the node model, traversal APIs, and how you would test tree operations.
### Constraints & Assumptions
- The tree is in memory.
- Nodes may have zero or more children.
- Traversal should support DFS and BFS.
- The exact operations can be extended by the interviewer.
### Clarifying Questions to Ask
- Is this a binary tree or an n-ary tree?
- Do nodes need parent pointers?
- Should traversal return values, nodes, or paths?
- Can the tree contain duplicate values?
- Do we need mutation operations?
### What a Strong Answer Covers
```premium-lock What a Strong Answer Covers
```
### Follow-up Questions
- How would you serialize the tree?
- How would you find the lowest common ancestor?
- How would you avoid recursion depth issues?
- How would concurrent mutations be handled?
Quick Answer: This Coreweave software engineering question evaluates tree operations using DFS and BFS. It prepares candidates to compare traversal strategies, reason about recursion versus iteration, and implement tree utilities with predictable complexity.