└── README.md


/README.md:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 | # What is that?
 2 | 
 3 | ## New startup
 4 | 
 5 | We're organizing a new company and would like you to join us. Therefore
 6 | we're asking you to do a technical exercise.
 7 | 
 8 | If you prefer to see some information about our new startup prior to solving
 9 | technical exercises, no problem ;) I'll explain what the startup does in
10 | a few days.
11 | 
12 | However, if you can blindly trust me and just do the exercise in the absence
13 | of any information about what it is we're doing, you're welcome to read the
14 | rest of the exercise :)
15 | 
16 | ## Why do I think it is a good idea to ask people to do work without explaining why?
17 | 
18 | I know I have a few thousand followers on Twitter and other social networks,
19 | many of them know me personally, and others kind of understand where I am
20 | coming from.
21 | 
22 | My aim for the next few days is to see if there are some motivated engineers
23 | that would like to join us as one of the very first engineers of our
24 | new Silicon Valley startup. Startups are risky, but may be rewarding.
25 | Doing the technical exercise without full information is one of the smallest
26 | risks you can take in your life.
27 | 
28 | If you aren't convinced now, no problem. There will be another chance later.
29 | With less risk.
30 | 
31 | 
32 | # Programming exercise for C/C++ engineers
33 | 
34 | Ben, I need help!
35 | 
36 | We're seeking strong C/C++ engineers with strong C/C++ skills who know C and/or C++ and can program by writing C or C++ code.
37 | 
38 |  * Do the exercise in your spare time. Do not use your current employer's equipment.
39 |  * Leave your code on GitHub, BitBucket, or package it up in a `.tar.gz`.
40 |  * Send a short note to [vlm@lionet.info](mailto:vlm@lionet.info) with a subject "C programmer assignment". Attach your resume, if you have it.
41 |  * I expect your code to be self-contained and buildable on a reasonable recent unix system (such as Ubuntu 12+, CentOS 6+, FreeBSD 6+ or macOS X). If you're building on Windows OK too, just package it up neat in a way that doesn't require firing up Visual Studio.
42 | 
43 | # Exercise
44 | 
45 | You're asked to create a helper function that _normalizes_ strings containing
46 | filesystem paths. The file system is assumed to be unix, with slash-separated
47 | components.
48 | 
49 | This function is going to be somewhat specialized for the webserver, so `domain.com/../foo` is expected to be equivalent to `domain.com/foo`.
50 | 
51 | Examples of path normalization:
52 | 
53 | | Path              | Normalized        |
54 | |-------------------|-------------------|
55 | | `../bar`          | `/bar`            |
56 | | `/foo/bar`        | `/foo/bar`        |
57 | | `/foo/bar/../baz` | `/foo/baz`        |
58 | | `/foo/bar/./baz/` | `/foo/bar/baz/`   |
59 | | `/foo/../../baz`  | `/baz`            |
60 | 
61 | The solution that you are asked to write as part of this exercise should not touch the actual filesystem.
62 | The processing is done purely lexically on a string of bytes.
63 | Assume ASCII character encoding.
64 | 
65 | The expected interface for the function is
66 | 
67 | ```C
68 | char *normalize(const char *path);  // Allocates memory.
69 | ```
70 | 
71 | or
72 | 
73 | ```C++
74 | std::string normalize(const std::string &path);
75 | ```
76 | 
77 | # Evaluation
78 | 
79 | How will we assess your code:
80 | 
81 |  * We require bug-free code
82 |  * We also very much enjoy reasonably fast code
83 |  * Tests should be there
84 | 
85 | Kudos if you can:
86 |  * Avoid dependencies (such as boost-filesystem)
87 |  * Explain cyclomatic complexity of the solution
88 |  * Quantify the speed of the solution (for example, in Gbps per CPU core)
89 |  * Assess the CPU cache effects
90 | 
91 | The next steps will likely be for us to chat (in English or Russian) to see if there's a mutual fit.
92 | 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------