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Solve bank, password, expression algorithm tasks

Last updated: Mar 29, 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 Solve bank, password, expression algorithm tasks states assumptions, handles edge cases, explains trade-offs, and shows how to validate the result clearly.

  • Medium
  • Instacart
  • Coding & Algorithms
  • Software Engineer

Solve bank, password, expression algorithm tasks

Company: Instacart

Role: Software Engineer

Category: Coding & Algorithms

Difficulty: Medium

Interview Round: Onsite

##### Question Implement a banking system that supports four specified operations within 90 minutes. Implement a password-related algorithm (e.g., validating or generating a strong password). Parse and evaluate an arithmetic expression string with operators and parentheses.

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 Solve bank, password, expression algorithm tasks 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 ##### Question Implement a banking system that supports four specified operations within 90 minutes. Implement a password-related algorithm (e.g., validating or generating a strong password). Parse and evaluate an arithmetic expression string with operators and parentheses. ## Recommended Approach Use the string constraints to choose between two pointers, a stack, frequency counts, prefix/suffix state, or dynamic programming. Maintain the invariant that processed characters have already been normalized, counted, or matched according to the operation. ## 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 Most direct string scans are O(n) time. Space ranges from O(1) for two pointers to O(n) for stacks, maps, or DP tables. ## Edge Cases and Tests Empty string, length 1, repeated characters, invalid characters, case sensitivity, Unicode vs ASCII, and very long input.

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|Home/Coding & Algorithms/Instacart

Solve bank, password, expression algorithm tasks

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Aug 4, 2025, 10:55 AM
MediumSoftware EngineerOnsiteCoding & Algorithms
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Solve bank, password, expression algorithm tasks

Implement a banking system that supports four specified operations within 90 minutes. Implement a password-related algorithm (e.g., validating or generating a strong password). Parse and evaluate an arithmetic expression string with operators and parentheses.

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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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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