here!
Would you like to work with us? ApplyLooqbox Backend Challenge
Challenge
In this challenge you will need to build a Microservice using the stack below and a provided api.
We will not use anything from your project other than evaluate your skills and you are free to use this project in your portfolio.
Stack
We use:
- Java/Kotlin
Spring Boot
for the frameworkGradle
for dependency management and local deployment
Submitting
- Make a fork of this repository
- When you're done send us a pull request
Guidelines
You need to make a HTTP REST API that
-
Consumes the PokeAPI data.
-
Provides an endpoint to query pokemons based on the substring of its name. For example:
- Request:
GET /pokemons?q=pidge
- Expected response:
{"result" : ["pidgey", "pidgeotto", "pidgeot"]}
- Request:
-
You need to apply sorting by two algorithms (it is not permitted to use a sorting library, for this particular feature you must implement by yourself). And it’s very important to explain your implemented logic (For instance, you can use inline comments on the source code):
- the pokemon name's length and;
- the pokemon name's alphabetical order
-
Find a way to indicate the pokemon name highlight regarding the piece of its queried name. For example:
- The queried name was
pi
- The highlight object must be
{"name": "pikachu", "highlight": "<pre>pi</pre>"}
or{"name": "pikachu", "start": 0, "end": 2}
- The queried name was
-
Draw a diagram explaining your architecture
Bonus points!
- Design Patterns
- Unit Testing
- Dockerize the application
- Explain the Big-Ω (time complexity) of your sorting algorithms (explain how you calculated them)
Useful links
Algorithm
Quicksort
public static void quickSort(int[] arr, int left, int right) {
var pivotIndex = left + (right - left) / 2;
var pivotValue = arr[pivotIndex];
var i = left;
var j = right;
while (i <= j) {
while (arr[i] < pivotValue) {
i++;
}
while (arr[j] > pivotValue) {
j--;
}
if (i <= j) {
var tmp = arr[i];
arr[i] = arr[j];
arr[j] = tmp;
i++;
j--;
}
if (left < i) {
quickSort(arr, left, j);
}
if (right > i) {
quickSort(arr, i, right);
}
}
}
Bubblesort
public static void bubbleSort(int[] arr) {
var lastIndex = arr.length - 1;
for(var j = 0; j < lastIndex; j++) {
for(var i = 0; i < lastIndex - j; i++) {
if(arr[i] > arr[i + 1]) {
var tmp = arr[i];
arr[i] = arr[i + 1];
arr[i + 1] = tmp;
}
}
}
}
Selectionsort
public static void selectionSort(int[] arr) {
var len = arr.length;
for (var i = 0; i < len - 1; i++) {
var minIndex = i;
for (var j = i + 1; j < len; j++) {
if(arr[j] < arr[minIndex])
minIndex = j;
}
var tmp = arr[minIndex];
arr[minIndex] = arr[i];
arr[i] = tmp;
}
}
InsertionSort
public static void insertionSort(int[] arr) {
for (var i = 1; i < arr.length; i++) {
var tmp = arr[i];
var j = i - 1;
while (j >= 0 && arr[j] > tmp) {
arr[j + 1] = arr[j];
j--;
}
arr[j + 1] = tmp;
}
}
Array
Generic two array concatenation
public static <T> T[] arrayConcat(T[] first, T[] second) {
var result = Arrays.copyOf(first, first.length + second.length);
System.arraycopy(second, 0, result, first.length, second.length);
return result;
}
Generic N array concatenation
public static <T> T[] nArrayConcat(T[] first, T[]... rest) {
var totalLength = first.length;
for (var array : rest) {
totalLength += array.length;
}
var result = Arrays.copyOf(first, totalLength);
var offset = first.length;
for (var array : rest) {
System.arraycopy(array, 0, result, offset, array.length);
offset += array.length;
}
return result;
}
Check if all elements of array are equal
public static <T> boolean allEqual(T[] arr) {
return Arrays.stream(arr).distinct().count() == 1;
}
Find maximum integer from the array
public static int findMax(int[] arr) {
return Arrays.stream(arr).reduce(Integer.MIN_VALUE, Integer::max);
}
Encoding
Base64 encode string
public static String encodeBase64(String input) {
return Base64.getEncoder().encodeToString(input.getBytes());
}
Base64 decode string
public static String decodeBase64(String input) {
return new String(Base64.getDecoder().decode(input.getBytes()));
}
File
List directories
public static File[] listDirectories(String path) {
return new File(path).listFiles(File::isDirectory);
}
List files in directory
public static File[] listFilesInDirectory(final File folder) {
return folder.listFiles(File::isFile);
}
List files in directory recursively
public static List<File> listAllFiles(String path) {
var all = new ArrayList<File>();
var list = new File(path).listFiles();
if (list != null) { // In case of access error, list is null
for (var f : list) {
if (f.isDirectory()) {
all.addAll(listAllFiles(f.getAbsolutePath()));
} else {
all.add(f.getAbsoluteFile());
}
}
}
return all;
}
Read lines from file to string list
public static List<String> readLines(String filename) throws IOException {
return Files.readAllLines(new File(filename).toPath());
}
Zip file
public static void zipFile(String srcFilename, String zipFilename) throws IOException {
var srcFile = new File(srcFilename);
try (
var fileOut = new FileOutputStream(zipFilename);
var zipOut = new ZipOutputStream(fileOut);
var fileIn = new FileInputStream(srcFile);
) {
var zipEntry = new ZipEntry(srcFile.getName());
zipOut.putNextEntry(zipEntry);
final var bytes = new byte[1024];
int length;
while ((length = fileIn.read(bytes)) >= 0) {
zipOut.write(bytes, 0, length);
}
}
}
Zip multiple files
public static void zipFiles(String[] srcFilenames, String zipFilename) throws IOException {
try (
var fileOut = new FileOutputStream(zipFilename);
var zipOut = new ZipOutputStream(fileOut);
) {
for (var i=0; i<srcFilenames.length; i++) {
var srcFile = new File(srcFilenames[i]);
try (var fileIn = new FileInputStream(srcFile)) {
var zipEntry = new ZipEntry(srcFile.getName());
zipOut.putNextEntry(zipEntry);
final var bytes = new byte[1024];
int length;
while ((length = fileIn.read(bytes)) >= 0) {
zipOut.write(bytes, 0, length);
}
}
}
}
}
Zip a directory
public static void zipDirectory (String srcDirectoryName, String zipFileName) throws IOException {
var srcDirectory = new File(srcDirectoryName);
try (
var fileOut = new FileOutputStream(zipFileName);
var zipOut = new ZipOutputStream(fileOut)
) {
zipFile(srcDirectory, srcDirectory.getName(), zipOut);
}
}
public static void zipFile(File fileToZip, String fileName, ZipOutputStream zipOut)
throws IOException {
if (fileToZip.isHidden()) { // Ignore hidden files as standard
return;
}
if (fileToZip.isDirectory()) {
if (fileName.endsWith("/")) {
zipOut.putNextEntry(new ZipEntry(fileName)); // To be zipped next
zipOut.closeEntry();
} else {
// Add the "/" mark explicitly to preserve structure while unzipping action is performed
zipOut.putNextEntry(new ZipEntry(fileName + "/"));
zipOut.closeEntry();
}
var children = fileToZip.listFiles();
for (var childFile : children) { // Recursively apply function to all children
zipFile(childFile, fileName + "/" + childFile.getName(), zipOut);
}
return;
}
try (
var fis = new FileInputStream(fileToZip) // Start zipping once we know it is a file
) {
var zipEntry = new ZipEntry(fileName);
zipOut.putNextEntry(zipEntry);
var bytes = new byte[1024];
var length = 0;
while ((length = fis.read(bytes)) >= 0) {
zipOut.write(bytes, 0, length);
}
}
}
Math
Fibonacci
public static int fibonacci(int n) {
if (n <= 1) {
return n;
} else {
return fibonacci(n - 1) + fibonacci(n - 2);
}
}
Factorial
public static int factorial(int number) {
var result = 1;
for (var factor = 2; factor <= number; factor++) {
result *= factor;
}
return result;
}
Haversine formula
// Radius of sphere on which the points are, in this case Earth.
private static final double SPHERE_RADIUS_IN_KM = 6372.8;
public static double findHaversineDistance(double latA, double longA, double latB, double longB) {
if (!isValidLatitude(latA)
|| !isValidLatitude(latB)
|| !isValidLongitude(longA)
|| !isValidLongitude(longB)) {
throw new IllegalArgumentException();
}
// Calculate the latitude and longitude differences
var latitudeDiff = Math.toRadians(latB - latA);
var longitudeDiff = Math.toRadians(longB - longA);
var latitudeA = Math.toRadians(latA);
var latitudeB = Math.toRadians(latB);
// Calculating the distance as per haversine formula
var a = Math.pow(Math.sin(latitudeDiff / 2), 2)
+ Math.pow(Math.sin(longitudeDiff / 2), 2) * Math.cos(latitudeA) * Math.cos(latitudeB);
var c = 2 * Math.asin(Math.sqrt(a));
return SPHERE_RADIUS_IN_KM * c;
}
// Check for valid latitude value
private static boolean isValidLatitude(double latitude) {
return latitude >= -90 && latitude <= 90;
}
// Check for valid longitude value
private static boolean isValidLongitude(double longitude) {
return longitude >= -180 && longitude <= 180;
}
Lottery
public static Integer[] performLottery(int numNumbers, int numbersToPick) {
var numbers = new ArrayList<Integer>();
for(var i = 0; i < numNumbers; i++) {
numbers.add(i+1);
}
Collections.shuffle(numbers);
return numbers.subList(0, numbersToPick).toArray(new Integer[numbersToPick]);
}
Greatest Common Divisor
public static int gcd(int a, int b) {
if (b == 0)
return a;
return gcd(b, a % b);
}
Prime
public static boolean isPrime(int number) {
if (number < 3) {
return true;
}
// check if n is a multiple of 2
if (number % 2 == 0) {
return false;
}
// if not, then just check the odds
for (var i = 3; i * i <= number; i += 2) {
if (number % i == 0) {
return false;
}
}
return true;
}
Media
Capture screen
public static void captureScreen(String filename) throws AWTException, IOException {
var screenSize = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getScreenSize();
var screenRectangle = new Rectangle(screenSize);
var robot = new Robot();
var image = robot.createScreenCapture(screenRectangle);
ImageIO.write(image, "png", new File(filename));
}
Networking
HTTP GET
public static HttpResponse<String> httpGet(String uri) throws Exception {
var client = HttpClient.newHttpClient();
var request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
.uri(URI.create(uri))
.build();
return client.send(request, BodyHandlers.ofString());
}
HTTP POST
public static HttpResponse<String> httpPost(String address, HashMap<String,String> arguments)
throws IOException, InterruptedException {
var sj = new StringJoiner("&");
for(var entry : arguments.entrySet()) {
sj.add(URLEncoder.encode(entry.getKey(), "UTF-8") + "="
+ URLEncoder.encode(entry.getValue(), "UTF-8"));
}
var out = sj.toString().getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
var request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
.uri(URI.create(address))
.headers("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded; charset=UTF-8")
.POST(BodyPublishers.ofByteArray(out))
.build();
return HttpClient.newHttpClient().send(request, BodyHandlers.ofString());
}
String
Palindrome check
public static boolean isPalindrome(String s) {
var sb = new StringBuilder();
for (var c : s.toCharArray()) {
if (Character.isLetter(c)) {
sb.append(c);
}
}
var forward = sb.toString().toLowerCase();
var backward = sb.reverse().toString().toLowerCase();
return forward.equals(backward);
}
Reverse string
public static String reverseString(String s) {
return new StringBuilder(s).reverse().toString();
}
String to date
public static Date stringToDate(String date, String format) throws ParseException {
var simpleDateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat(format);
return simpleDateFormat.parse(date);
}
Anagram Check
public boolean isAnagram(String s1, String s2) {
var l1 = s1.length();
var l2 = s2.length();
var arr1 = new int[256];
var arr2 = new int[256];
if (l1 != l2) {
return false;
}
for (var i = 0; i < l1; i++) {
arr1[s1.charAt(i)]++;
arr2[s2.charAt(i)]++;
}
return Arrays.equals(arr1, arr2);
}
Find Levenshtein distance
public static int findLevenshteinDistance(String word1, String word2) {
// If word2 is empty, removing
int[][] ans = new int[word1.length() + 1][word2.length() + 1];
for (int i = 0; i <= word1.length(); i++) {
ans[i][0] = i;
}
// if word1 is empty, adding
for (int i = 0; i <= word2.length(); i++) {
ans[0][i] = i;
}
// None is empty
for (int i = 1; i <= word1.length(); i++) {
for (int j = 1; j <= word2.length(); j++) {
int min = Math.min(Math.min(ans[i][j - 1], ans[i - 1][j]), ans[i - 1][j - 1]);
ans[i][j] = word1.charAt(i - 1) == word2.charAt(j - 1) ? ans[i - 1][j - 1] : min + 1;
}
}
return ans[word1.length()][word2.length()];
}
Compare Version
public static int compareVersion(String v1, String v2) {
Function<String, String[]> getVersionComponents = version -> version.replaceAll(".*?((?<!\\w)\\d+([.-]\\d+)*).*", "$1", "$1").split("\\.");
var components1 = getVersionComponents.apply(v1);
var components2 = getVersionComponents.apply(v2);
int length = Math.max(components1.length, components2.length);
for (int i = 0; i < length; i++) {
Integer c1 = i < components1.length ? Integer.parseInt(components1[i]) : 0;
Integer c2 = i < components2.length ? Integer.parseInt(components2[i]) : 0;
int result = c1.compareTo(c2);
if (result != 0) {
return result;
}
}
return 0;
}
Class
Get methods name
public static List<String> getAllMethods(final Class<?> cls) {
return Arrays.stream(cls.getDeclaredMethods())
.map(Method::getName)
.collect(Collectors.toList());
}
Get public field names
public static List<String> getAllFieldNames(final Class<?> cls) {
return Arrays.stream(cls.getFields())
.map(Field::getName)
.collect(Collectors.toList());
}
Get all field names
public static List<String> getAllFieldNames(final Class<?> cls) {
var fields = new ArrayList<String>();
var currentCls = cls;
while (currentCls != null) {
fields.addAll(
Arrays.stream(currentCls.getDeclaredFields())
.filter(field -> !field.isSynthetic())
.map(Field::getName)
.collect(Collectors.toList()));
currentCls = currentCls.getSuperclass();
}
return fields;
}
Create object
public static Object createObject(String cls)
throws NoSuchMethodException,
IllegalAccessException,
InvocationTargetException,
InstantiationException,
ClassNotFoundException {
var objectClass = Class.forName(cls);
var objectConstructor = objectClass.getConstructor();
return objectConstructor.newInstance();
}
I/O
Read file by stream
public static List<String> readFile(String fileName) throws FileNotFoundException {
try (Stream<String> stream = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(fileName)).lines()) {
return stream.collect(Collectors.toList());
}
}
InputStream to String
public static String inputStreamToString(InputStream inputStream) throws IOException {
try (var reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(inputStream))) {
var stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
var data = reader.read();
while (data != -1) {
stringBuilder.append((char) data);
data = reader.read();
}
return stringBuilder.toString();
}
}
Thread
Create pool of threads
public static ExecutorService createFixedThreadPool() {
return Executors.newFixedThreadPool(Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors());
}