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Stripe·Software Engineer·Take-home Assignment·Junior

Junior
May 2026

Summary

Take-home assignment from Bikemap, though listed under Stripe for some reason. First of three questions, pretty straightforward file parsing task.

Questions Asked (1)

Q1

Given a JSON file containing bike map data (a list of records each with a coordinate field), read and parse the file using a standard JSON library and print the coordinates from the first 10 records.

Algorithms & Data StructuresAPI & Integrations
Author's notes

Pretty basic file I/O and JSON parsing.

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AI HintsAI Generated

Suggested Approach

Start by clarifying the JSON structure and coordinate format, then outline a solution using a standard JSON library to parse the file and extract coordinates from the first 10 records. Emphasize error handling and code clarity, and discuss potential edge cases like missing fields or malformed JSON.

Pro tip: Demonstrate production-level thinking by mentioning that you would validate the JSON schema and handle exceptions gracefully, and note that for large files, streaming parsers might be more memory-efficient than loading the entire file.

1. Clarify Requirements

Ask about the JSON structure, coordinate format (e.g., array, object with lat/lng), and whether the file is local or remote. Confirm that only the first 10 records are needed.

2. Choose Language and Library

Select a language (e.g., Python) and its standard JSON library (e.g., json). Mention that standard libraries are preferred for simplicity and reliability.

3. Read and Parse JSON

Open the file, read its contents, and parse it using the JSON library. Handle potential exceptions like FileNotFoundError or JSONDecodeError.

4. Extract and Print Coordinates

Iterate over the first 10 records, extract the coordinate field, and print it. Ensure the output is clear and formatted as expected.

5. Discuss Edge Cases and Optimizations

Mention handling missing coordinates, empty files, or large files. Suggest streaming or lazy parsing if the file is huge.

Key Points to Mention

  • Use of standard JSON library (e.g., Python's json module) for parsing.
  • Error handling for file I/O and JSON parsing exceptions.
  • Validation of the JSON structure and coordinate field presence.
  • Efficient extraction of only the first 10 records (e.g., slicing or early break).
  • Consideration of memory usage for large files (streaming vs. loading entire file).
  • Clear and formatted output of coordinates.

AI-generated suggestions, not part of the candidate's original notes. May be inaccurate — verify before relying on them.