From the current directory you can build an executable in the bin/ directory then run the program execute the following commands:
go build -o bin/pizzabot main.go then bin/pizzabot <params>
You may also run the program directly without producing an executable using the following:
go run main.go <params>
The main game arguments are comprised of a grid size and coordinates of the path the bot should take around the grid.
Example:
"5x5 (1, 3) (4, 4) (1, 1) (2, 1) ..."
In an effort to make this a bit more user-friendly I pattern match on the whole line for grid size, accepting the first occurrence ignoring others. I do the same for each of the path points specified. I ignore whitespace between and around the parameters. Anything not recognised is disregarded.
Note: this argument should be surrounded by double quotes and should appear last on the line of command line arguments.
-v
The default output of the Pizzabot program is a single line of directions and drops
as specified in the challenge. I also included a verbose output mode that would
show the time taken to figure out the path(s), and display all paths attempted
depending on which algorithm (see below) was used.
-a [algorithm]
You can specify the type of pathfinding algorithm the Pizzabot will use to traverse the points
specified. 'algorithm' is one of the following:
-
CP(Closest Point): This is the default pathfinding algorithm. The next point chosen by the bot will be the closest in steps, if there are points equally distant, the first in the list will be chosen. -
ordered(Ordered): The points are traversed in the order that the user specifies on the command line. This differs from other algorithms in that it will travel away from and back to a point that is specified twice or more rather than making two drops there. -
treeCP(Node Tree Closest Point): This algorithm operates similarly to the Closest Point, the main difference is that when two subsequent point options are equidistant from the current point both paths are stored and followed. This is achieved by storing path points in Nodes of a decision tree. The default output will just display the first of the shortest routes, the verbose output will show every route attempted. -
treeBF(Node Tree Brute Force): Every single combination of remaining path point will be attempted. For example if the path has seven points, all seven points will be attempted first, then from each of those points the remaining six and so on. If n was the number of points then n! (factorial) paths will be produced. This can get out of hand fairly quickly and produces some interesting benchmark times with verbose output. You will be probably be best piping this output to file.
Example line:
bin/pizzabot -v -a treeBF "5x5 (1, 3) (4, 4) (1, 1) (2, 1)"
- Specifiable origin point
- I/O from file sources
- Show which parts of the command line were unparsed, show currently parsable parameters and ask for permission to continue.
As part of Slice's commitment to reducing bias in the interview process, we're asking you to complete a code challenge. The challenge is intended to be respectful of your time, language- and platform-neutral, appropriate for engineers of all skill levels, and (hopefully) fun. All challenges are stripped of identifying information and judged against a rubric by two independent reviewers. You can make the anonymization process easier for us by not including your name in source files or documentation.
Slice engineers work predominantly in Ruby, Javascript, Python, Swift, and Android Kotlin, but you're welcome to complete the challenge in the programming language of your choice. If we believe we're not qualified to evaluate it, we'll let you know.
If you successfully complete the challenge and agree to a formal interview, we may ask you to pair-program with one of our engineers on an extension to your submission as part of that process.
Please submit the solution to your challenge as a tarball, with clear instructions on how to execute it.
Here's what we're looking for:
- Correctness. Does the code fulfill the requirements of the challenge?
- Readability. Is the code well-structured by the standards of the host language? Is it simple and clean? Does it reflect the domain of the problem?
- Fit and polish. Is there a README? A build script? Are there spelling errors or extraneous comments? How does it handle unspecified behavior?
- Test coverage. Not every developer writes tests, and that's okay. But we do. (Most of the time.)
As part of our continuing commitment to the latest cutting-edge pizza technology research, Slice is working on a robot that delivers pizza. We call it (dramatic pause): Pizzabot. Your task is to instruct Pizzabot on how to deliver pizzas to all the houses in a neighborhood.
In more specific terms, given a grid (where each point on the grid is one house) and a list of points representing houses in need of pizza delivery, return a list of instructions for getting Pizzabot to those locations and delivering. An instruction is one of:
N: Move north
S: Move south
E: Move east
W: Move west
D: Drop pizza
Pizzabot always starts at the origin point, (0, 0). As with a Cartesian plane, this point lies at the most south-westerly point of the grid.
Therefore, given the following input:
$ ./pizzabot "5x5 (1, 3) (4, 4)"one correct solution would be:
ENNNDEEEND
In other words: move east once and north thrice; drop a pizza; move east thrice and north once; drop a final pizza.
If you'd prefer to avoid stdin, or work predominantly in a platform that makes it difficult to use, the equivalent solution expressed as an integration test is just fine. The API is entirely up to you, as long as the test exercises functionality that accepts and returns properly formatted strings:
assertEqual(pizzabot("5x5 (1, 3) (4, 4)"), "ENNNDEEEND")
There are multiple correct ways to navigate between locations. We do not take optimality of route into account when grading: all correct solutions are good solutions.
To complete the challenge, please solve for the following exact input:
5x5 (0, 0) (1, 3) (4, 4) (4, 2) (4, 2) (0, 1) (3, 2) (2, 3) (4, 1)Keep it simple, and have fun!