/codetest

1) Alphanumeric range check 2) Consecutive ascending/descending check 3) CNN news crawler

Primary LanguagePHP

##Author: Simon Yousoufov

##Notes:

  • Written as a pseudo-API. Each question is the code test is contained to its own controller under app/controllers.
  • I did not push to a remote repo until I was mostly done writing code, so my branch structure isn't reflected.
  • I opted out of setting up pretty urls just for a quicker setup time.

##Setup:

  • This is written with the Laravel framework. The repository was uploaded with all dependencies so a composer isntall should not be necessary.
  • Include your hostname in bootstrap/start.php under 'Simon-Notebook' (http://laravel.com/docs/4.2/installation#configuration for reference)
  • Ensure that the folder structure is set to 755 (chmod 755 -R codetest) and app/storage is writeable (chmod -R o+w codetest/app/storage)

##Sending requests: #####Using DHC, a similar REST client, or just navigating to the appropritate URL + parameters will do it. #####Routes are located in app/routes.php

  • Question one:
    • {codetestserverroot}/public/index.php/description?query={R7A,R8A,C4-4A,M3-2,R8B,C1-6A,R7B,R8X,C1-7A,PARK,C1-9A,R6,C1-7,C2-6,R10,C4-5,C6-3X,C1-6,C6-2M,C6-4M,M2-4,M1-5/R7X} will return the test on the array of codes provided in the question. It will also accept any arbitrary codes.
    • {codetestserverroot}/public/index.php/descriptors will return the list of descriptors to show how I organized the mock database
    • The mock database is located in codetest/app/storage/mockdb/codes.json
  • Question two:
    • To send a request that will return the results of the array given in the question:
      • {codetestserverroot}/public/index.php/consecutive?random=false&query={3,4,1,1,6,11,15,6,7,8,10,9,8,2,3}
      • To request a random test of an array of 50 numbers 1-19, just send random=true
      • NOTE: The response is in the form of array(original index in array of numbers => the number value)
  • Question three:
    • To send a request for the default set of topics (Top Stories, Latest, Entertainment): {codetestserverroot}/public/index.php/news?customSearch=false
    • To send a custom query of topics: {codetestserverroot}/public/index.php/news?customSearch=true&topics={world,us,crime,tech}
    • Possible topics to choose from: topstories, world, us, latest, allpolitics, crime, tech, health, showbiz, travel, living, freevideo, studentnews, mostpopular

##The original question prompts Question 1 Description: Write a method which accepts a list/array of codes and returns the code along with its description as JSON. Note that the range for R1-1 - R10H encompasses R1-1 to R10-10 and R1A to R10H.

Bonus: Write a unit test.

Description Data: Codes Descriptions

R1-1 - R10H General Residence Districts C1-6 - C8-4 Commercial Districts M1-1 - M3-2 Manufacturing Districts M1-1/R5 – M1-6/R10 Mixed Manufacturing & Residential Districts BPC Battery Park City PARK New York City Parks PARKNYS New York State Parks PARKUS United States Parks ZNA Zoning Not Applicable ZR 11-151 Special Zoning District

Example output: Given ['M3', 'R3-2', 'PARKNYS', 'M1-3/R9']

{
	"codes":[
		{"code":"M3", "description”:”Not found“},
		{"code":"R3-2", "description":"Residential Districts"},
		{"code":"PARKNYS", "description":"New York State Parks"},
		{"code":"M1-3/R9", "description":"Mixed Manufacturing & Residential Districts"}
	]
}

Input: The list is: R7A R8A C4-4A M3-2 R8B C1-6A R7B R8X C1-7A PARK C1-9A R6 C1-7 C2-6 R10 C4-5 C6-3X C1-6 C6-2M C6-4M M2-4 M1-5/R7X

Question 2 Given an array of unsorted positive integers, write a function that finds runs of consecutive numbers (either ascending or descending) and returns the indices where such runs begin. If no such runs are found, return null.

Example: [1, 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 10, 9, 8, 9, 10, 11, 7] would return [3,6,7,10]

Bonus: Come up with a reusable test plan for the function. Bonus 2: Write it as a unit test.

Question 3 Build and document a php or python-based script which extracts story information from the homepage (only the homepage) of this site: http://www.cnn.com/ The returned data should contain information on each story including its link, ALT text and categorize each article link under its respective slug ("Opinion", "Breaking News", etc). Bonus: Get the meta-description of each underlying page.