Practical coding · choose one unfamiliar system
“You inherit a feature with passing happy-path checks and failing customer behavior. Make the contract visible, reproduce one failure, and repair the responsible boundary.”
Each linked page is a separate constructed project/session with concrete inputs, a reusable method, evolving diagrams and checks.
| Order | Project | Property demonstrated |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bounded API fan-out | Ordered partial results and at most K active asynchronous calls |
| 2 | Search results race | Latest request wins even when cancellation is ignored |
| 3 | Quantity investigation | Runtime validation and regression before repair |
| 4 | Transaction importer | Multi-module debugging, exact money, retries and durable restart |
| 5 | Three-PR review | Causal reproductions and release priorities |
| Backend/infra | Bounded threaded executor | Condition predicates, cancellation, deadlines and shutdown |
| Product | Real bookmark editor | Browser/API/SQLite behavior under races and conflicts |
Prerequisites: coding route, runtime model. Existing TypeScript helpers (download file, source below) and tests (download file, source below) remain available. The importer starter deliberately fails before repair; its reference is separate. The executor and bookmark slice are runnable references: use their candidate briefs for independent attempts.
Read the supplied code · typescript.ts
/** Bounded workers: preserve input order; drain started work and report errors per item. */
export async function mapLimit<T, R>(items: readonly T[], limit: number, fn: (item: T, index: number) => Promise<R>): Promise<PromiseSettledResult<R>[]> {
if (!Number.isInteger(limit) || limit < 1) throw new RangeError('positive integer limit required');
const out: PromiseSettledResult<R>[] = new Array(items.length);
let next = 0;
async function worker() {
while (next < items.length) {
const index = next++; // No await between reading and claiming the index.
try { out[index] = { status: 'fulfilled', value: await fn(items[index], index) }; }
catch (reason) { out[index] = { status: 'rejected', reason }; }
}
}
await Promise.all(Array.from({ length: Math.min(limit, items.length) }, worker));
return out;
}
/** Aborting old work saves resources where supported. The generation guard protects correctness. */
export function latestOnly<T>(load: (query: string, signal: AbortSignal) => Promise<T>, render: (value: T) => void) {
let generation = 0;
let active: AbortController | undefined;
return async (query: string): Promise<boolean> => {
const own = ++generation;
active?.abort();
const controller = new AbortController();
active = controller;
try {
const value = await load(query, controller.signal);
if (own !== generation) return false;
render(value);
return true;
} catch (error) {
if (own !== generation) return false;
throw error; // Current request failure must be visible to the caller/UI.
}
};
}
export class LRU<K, V> {
private readonly values = new Map<K, V>();
private readonly capacity: number;
constructor(capacity: number) {
if (!Number.isInteger(capacity) || capacity < 0) throw new RangeError('nonnegative integer capacity required');
this.capacity = capacity;
}
get(key: K): V | undefined {
if (!this.values.has(key)) return undefined;
const value = this.values.get(key) as V;
this.values.delete(key);
this.values.set(key, value);
return value;
}
put(key: K, value: V) {
if (this.capacity === 0) return;
this.values.delete(key);
this.values.set(key, value);
if (this.values.size > this.capacity) this.values.delete(this.values.keys().next().value as K);
}
}
export type Bookmark = { id: string; title: string; version: number };
/** Apply a server response only if no newer local/server version is known. */
export function reconcile(current: Bookmark, incoming: Bookmark): Bookmark {
if (current.id !== incoming.id) throw new Error('different entity');
return incoming.version >= current.version ? incoming : current;
}
Read the supplied code · typescript.test.ts
import { test } from 'node:test';
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
import { mapLimit, latestOnly, LRU, reconcile } from './typescript.ts';
test('bounded concurrency, order, and rejection isolation', async () => {
let active = 0, peak = 0;
const result = await mapLimit([4,3,2,1],2,async value => {
active++; peak=Math.max(active,peak);
try {
await new Promise(resolve=>setTimeout(resolve,value));
if(value===3) throw new Error('test failure');
return value*2;
} finally { active--; }
});
assert.equal(peak,2);assert.equal(active,0);
assert.deepEqual(result.map(x=>x.status==='fulfilled'?x.value:'error'),[8,'error',4,2]);
assert.deepEqual(await mapLimit([],2,async x=>x),[]);
await assert.rejects(mapLimit([1],0,async x=>x),RangeError);
});
test('stale result cannot render even if load ignores abort',async()=>{
const pending: Record<string,(x:string)=>void> = {};
const rendered:string[]=[];
const search=latestOnly((q)=>new Promise<string>(r=>{pending[q]=r}),v=>rendered.push(v));
const old=search('old'),fresh=search('new');
pending.new('new');assert.equal(await fresh,true);
pending.old('old');assert.equal(await old,false);
assert.deepEqual(rendered,['new']);
});
test('current failure propagates',async()=>{
const search=latestOnly(async()=>{throw new Error('offline')},()=>{});
await assert.rejects(search('q'),/offline/);
});
test('LRU refresh, overwrite, and zero capacity',()=>{
const c=new LRU<string,number>(2);c.put('a',1);c.put('b',2);c.get('a');c.put('c',3);
assert.equal(c.get('b'),undefined);c.put('a',4);assert.equal(c.get('a'),4);
const empty=new LRU(0);empty.put('a',1);assert.equal(empty.get('a'),undefined);
});
test('late response cannot regress version',()=>{
const current={id:'a',title:'new',version:3};
assert.equal(reconcile(current,{id:'a',title:'old',version:2}),current);
assert.throws(()=>reconcile(current,{id:'b',title:'x',version:4}));
});
For AI-assisted review, first write the invariant and three adversarial cases; then ask an assistant to implement fan-out, inspect every await, and record accepted and rejected suggestions. Finish a changed version unaided. AI review and independent implementation are distinct skills; recruiter instructions govern a real interview.
Do not call green reference tests a candidate pass. Complete the assessment route on more than one unfamiliar occasion. Timed mock · Coding home