Process a Task List: Deduplicate, Drop Completed, Sort by Priority, and Nest Subtasks

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Quick Overview

Senior backend coding question: process a batch of scheduler tasks by removing duplicates on description and due date, dropping completed tasks, sorting by priority, and placing each subtask directly after its parent. It tests clarifying ambiguous policies, orphan and cycle handling, O(n log n) design, and verified use of an AI coding assistant.

Process a Task List: Deduplicate, Drop Completed, Sort by Priority, and Nest Subtasks

Company: Rippling

Role: Backend Engineer

Category: Software Engineering Fundamentals

Difficulty: medium

Interview Round: Onsite

Overview: Senior backend coding question: process a batch of scheduler tasks by removing duplicates on description and due date, dropping completed tasks, sorting by priority, and placing each subtask directly after its parent. It tests clarifying ambiguous policies, orphan and cycle handling, O(n log n) design, and verified use of an AI coding assistant.

Read the full Rippling Backend Engineer interview experience this question came from

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Rippling
Sep 11, 2026
mediumBackend EngineerOnsiteSoftware Engineering Fundamentals
26
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