Start by clarifying requirements and constraints, then outline the component's architecture, focusing on state management and event handling. Walk through the implementation step by step, explaining how you handle debouncing, async fetching, race conditions, keyboard navigation, and edge cases like loading, error, and empty states. Emphasize trade-offs and why you chose specific solutions.
Pro tip: Demonstrate awareness of accessibility by mentioning ARIA roles and keyboard interactions, and discuss how you would test the component, including mocking API calls and simulating user input.
Ask questions to understand the expected behavior, such as debounce delay, API endpoint, error handling, and accessibility requirements. Confirm the scope: is it a controlled component? Does it need to support caching?
Define the component's state: input value, suggestions, loading, error, and active index. Outline event handlers for input change, keydown (arrow keys, enter, escape), and blur/focus. Explain how debouncing will be implemented (e.g., using setTimeout or a custom hook).
Describe how you'll fetch suggestions asynchronously, using an AbortController or a request ID to ignore stale responses. Show how loading, error, and empty states are managed and rendered.
Explain how to make the suggestions list navigable with arrow keys, selectable with Enter, and dismissible with Escape. Mention ARIA attributes like role='combobox', aria-expanded, aria-activedescendant, and aria-live for screen readers.
Talk about trade-offs: debounce delay vs. responsiveness, caching vs. freshness, and controlled vs. uncontrolled input. Briefly mention testing strategies: unit tests for debounce and fetch, integration tests for keyboard navigation, and mocking API responses.
AI-generated suggestions, not part of the candidate's original notes. May be inaccurate — verify before relying on them.