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Meta·Software Engineer·Technical Phone Screen·Intermediate

Intermediate
Apr 2026

Summary

Meta SWE coding round, pretty much a string filtering problem. Nothing crazy but it's the kind of thing where you can overthink it if you're not careful.

Questions Asked (1)

Q1

Given an array of strings and a set of characters, return all strings from the array that can be formed using only characters from that set.

Algorithms & Data Structures
Author's notes

Straightforward on the surface.

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AI HintsAI Generated

Suggested Approach

Clarify the problem constraints (e.g., case sensitivity, duplicates, empty strings) and then propose an efficient solution using a hash set for the allowed characters. Iterate through each string, checking if all its characters are in the set, and collect the valid strings. Discuss time and space complexity, and consider edge cases.

Pro tip: Mention that converting the allowed characters to a hash set gives O(1) lookups, and that you can early-exit the inner loop as soon as an invalid character is found. Also, discuss whether to preserve the original order of strings and how to handle duplicates.

1. Clarify requirements and constraints

Ask about case sensitivity, whether the set can contain duplicates, if the output should preserve order, and how to handle empty strings or empty set.

2. Choose data structures

Use a hash set for the allowed characters to enable O(1) membership checks. The result can be a list or array, depending on the required output format.

3. Design the algorithm

For each string, iterate through its characters and check if each is in the allowed set. If all characters are valid, add the string to the result. Use early termination for efficiency.

4. Analyze complexity and edge cases

Calculate time complexity as O(N * L) where N is number of strings and L is average length, and space complexity as O(M) for the set and O(K) for the result. Discuss edge cases like empty input, strings with invalid characters, and Unicode.

5. Test and optimize

Walk through examples, including edge cases. Consider optimizations like bitmask if the character set is small (e.g., lowercase letters) to reduce space and improve speed.

Key Points to Mention

  • Hash set for O(1) character lookups
  • Time complexity: O(N * L) where N is number of strings and L is average length
  • Space complexity: O(M) for the set and O(K) for the output
  • Early termination when an invalid character is found
  • Handling edge cases: empty strings, empty set, case sensitivity, duplicates
  • Potential optimization using bitmask for small character sets

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