Improve robustness of graph cycle detection code

Q: Improve robustness of graph cycle detection code

This question evaluates a candidate's competence in software engineering fundamentals—covering graph algorithms and dependency analysis, scalability and memory considerations, error handling and observability, testing strategy, and API and extensibility design for production systems.

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Question

You have written code to detect cycles in a directed dependency graph of services, where nodes represent services and edges represent dependencies between services.

In a real-world production environment, this code will be part of a larger system that validates service configurations before deployment.

Question:

How would you improve this cycle detection component so that it works better in a real-world setting? Discuss considerations and potential improvements in areas such as:

Code readability and maintainability
Handling large-scale graphs (performance, memory)
Error handling and edge cases (e.g., invalid or missing data)
Logging, monitoring, and observability
Testing strategy (unit tests, integration tests, property-based tests)
API design (inputs/outputs, how results are surfaced to other services or to users)
Extensibility for future requirements (e.g., reporting all cycles, not just existence)

Provide concrete examples and rationale for the improvements you propose.

Improve robustness of graph cycle detection code

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Improve robustness of graph cycle detection code

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