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Stripe·Software Engineer·Technical Phone Screen·Intermediate

Intermediate
Jun 2026

Summary

Stripe coding round for a software engineer role, focused on processing a stream of HTTP request logs. Two sub-questions to implement, both involving filtering and aggregating the data in different ways. Felt more like a systems-adjacent data wrangling exercise than a pure algorithms problem.

Questions Asked (1)

Q1

Given a log of recorded HTTP requests, implement functionality to filter, aggregate, or group requests by attributes like user, endpoint, or status code.

API & IntegrationsAlgorithms & Data StructuresSystem Design
Author's notes

Two sub-questions built on top of each other, which I didn't fully anticipate.

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AI HintsAI Generated

Suggested Approach

Start by clarifying the requirements: what attributes to filter/group by, expected data volume, and whether the log is static or streaming. Then propose a clean, extensible design using a data model for requests and a pipeline of operations (filter, group, aggregate), discussing time/space trade-offs and potential optimizations like indexing or parallel processing.

Pro tip: Mention that you'd design the solution to be composable and testable, and that you'd consider using a streaming approach if the log is large, to avoid loading everything into memory.

1. Clarify Requirements

Ask about the log format, size, and whether operations need to be real-time or batch. Confirm which attributes are most important and if multiple aggregations are needed.

2. Design Data Model

Define a Request class/struct with fields like timestamp, user, endpoint, status code, etc. Consider using a schema that allows easy addition of new attributes.

3. Implement Core Operations

Write functions for filtering (e.g., by user or status), grouping (e.g., by endpoint), and aggregating (e.g., count, average response time). Use functional composition for flexibility.

4. Optimize and Scale

Discuss performance: indexing for fast lookups, streaming for large logs, parallel processing for aggregations. Mention trade-offs between memory and speed.

5. Test and Validate

Outline unit tests for each operation, edge cases (empty log, invalid entries), and integration tests. Consider using sample data to demonstrate correctness.

Key Points to Mention

  • Time and space complexity of filtering, grouping, and aggregating operations.
  • Use of appropriate data structures (e.g., hash maps for grouping, heaps for top-k).
  • Handling large logs via streaming or chunking to avoid memory issues.
  • Extensibility: designing for new attributes or operations without major refactoring.
  • Error handling and data validation for malformed log entries.
  • Potential use of SQL-like queries or MapReduce paradigm for distributed processing.

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