← Fora Travel Interview Insights
This is a lot to cover in one question and I think I underestimated how much they wanted on the data modeling side before jumping to APIs.
Start by clarifying the core user flows and data needs from the mockups, then define a normalized data model that supports catalog browsing, product details, and booking inquiries. Design RESTful APIs with clear read/write separation, and explain how pagination, filtering, and validation enable efficient page rendering and a smooth user experience.
Pro tip: Emphasize how your API design directly supports the frontend rendering needs—e.g., including aggregated data or nested resources to avoid multiple round trips—and mention trade-offs like normalization vs. denormalization for read performance.
Extract key entities from the mockups: destinations, properties, rooms, inquiries, and users. Define relationships (e.g., a destination has many properties, a property has many rooms, an inquiry belongs to a user and a property).
Define endpoints like GET /destinations, GET /properties with filtering (location, price, dates) and pagination (cursor or offset). For detail pages, use GET /properties/{id} with nested rooms and availability.
Create POST /inquiries with a request body containing property ID, dates, guest count, and contact info. Include validation rules (e.g., date range, required fields) and return appropriate status codes.
Specify server-side validation for all inputs, including business rules (e.g., check-out after check-in, availability). Use consistent error responses with clear messages and HTTP status codes.
Discuss techniques like field selection, embedding related resources, caching, and CDN usage. Explain how pagination and filtering reduce payload and improve load times.
AI-generated suggestions, not part of the candidate's original notes. May be inaccurate — verify before relying on them.