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Implement a formatted shell script output

Last updated: Jun 26, 2026

Quick Overview

This interview question evaluates algorithm design, data structures, correctness, complexity, edge cases, and implementation details in a realistic interview setting. A strong answer for Implement a formatted shell script output states assumptions, handles edge cases, explains trade-offs, and shows how to validate the result clearly.

  • medium
  • Amazon
  • Coding & Algorithms
  • Software Engineer

Implement a formatted shell script output

Company: Amazon

Role: Software Engineer

Category: Coding & Algorithms

Difficulty: medium

Interview Round: Technical Screen

Write a shell script named script.sh that is invoked as: ./script.sh <username> <path_of_file>. It must print a single line formatted exactly as: <timestamp> <license> <user@hostname>. Use the supplied username and the current machine’s hostname, and parse the license value from the file at <path_of_file>. Include argument validation (missing args), file existence/permission checks, and clearly define the timestamp format you choose.

Quick Answer: This interview question evaluates algorithm design, data structures, correctness, complexity, edge cases, and implementation details in a realistic interview setting. A strong answer for Implement a formatted shell script output states assumptions, handles edge cases, explains trade-offs, and shows how to validate the result clearly.

Solution

# Solution Alignment The prompt asks for an implementation-level answer. The safest way to present it is to define the state, maintain clear invariants, then walk through complexity and tests. ## Problem Restatement Write a shell script named script.sh that is invoked as: ./script.sh <username> <path_of_file>. It must print a single line formatted exactly as: <timestamp> <license> <user@hostname>. Use the supplied username and the current machine’s hostname, and parse the license value from the file at <path_of_file>. Include argument validation (missing args), file existence/permission checks, and clearly define the timestamp format you choose. ## Recommended Approach Model each reachable configuration as a graph state and choose the traversal by edge cost: BFS for unweighted shortest paths, Dijkstra for non-negative weighted paths, or topological DP for DAGs. Track visited states at the correct granularity so cycles do not cause repeated work. ## Correctness The implementation should maintain an invariant after each loop or operation that directly matches the problem statement. At termination, that invariant implies the returned value has considered every valid candidate exactly once, or has preserved the required data-structure state after every API call. ## Complexity BFS is O(V + E) time and O(V) space for a standard graph. Expanded-state problems multiply those bounds by the number of state dimensions. ## Edge Cases and Tests Disconnected graph, source equals target, cycles, duplicate edges, unreachable target, and whether the answer counts nodes, edges, moves, or transfers.

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|Home/Coding & Algorithms/Amazon

Implement a formatted shell script output

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Amazon
Aug 10, 2025, 12:00 AM
mediumSoftware EngineerTechnical ScreenCoding & Algorithms
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Implement a formatted shell script output

Write a shell script named script.sh that is invoked as: ./script.sh <username> <path_of_file>. It must print a single line formatted exactly as: <timestamp> <license> user@hostname. Use the supplied username and the current machine’s hostname, and parse the license value from the file at <path_of_file>. Include argument validation (missing args), file existence/permission checks, and clearly define the timestamp format you choose.

Constraints & Assumptions

  • Preserve the scope, facts, inputs, and requested outputs from the prompt above.
  • If the prompt leaves a detail unspecified, state a reasonable assumption before relying on it.
  • Keep the answer interview-ready: concise enough to present, but concrete enough to implement or evaluate.

Clarifying Questions to Ask Guidance

  • Clarify input sizes, value ranges, mutability, return format, and tie-breaking.
  • State the target time and space complexity before coding.
  • Call out edge cases such as empty inputs, duplicates, invalid values, overflow, and boundary sizes.

What a Strong Answer Covers Guidance

  • A clear algorithm with the right data structures and enough pseudocode or code-level detail to implement it.
  • A correctness argument that explains why the algorithm covers all required cases.
  • Time and space complexity, plus at least one alternative approach when relevant.
  • Focused tests for normal cases, edge cases, and failure modes.

Follow-up Questions Guidance

  • How would the approach change if the input were streaming or too large for memory?
  • What invariants would you assert in production code?
  • Which tests would catch off-by-one, duplicate, or tie-breaking bugs?

Submit Your Answer to Earn 20XP

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