Implement Safe Average Function
Company: Waymo
Role: Data Scientist
Category: Coding & Algorithms
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Take-home Project
Write a Python function `average(values)` that returns the arithmetic mean of a list of numbers.
Requirements:
- If `values` is empty, return `0`.
- The input is a flat list of numeric values such as integers or floats.
- Do not mutate the input list.
Examples:
- `average([1, 2, 3])` returns `2.0`
- `average([-1, 1])` returns `0.0`
- `average([])` returns `0`
Quick Answer: This question evaluates proficiency with basic programming fundamentals including numeric computation, handling edge cases such as empty inputs, input immutability, and data type consistency.