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Interview Questions

Distributed Data Processing

Asked at Anthropic
technical
distributed systems
algorithms

Design systems for processing large-scale data across multiple machines.

Tasks:

  1. Find Duplicate Files
  • Content-based comparison
  • Handle terabyte-scale directories
  • Optimize memory usage
  1. Find Mode in Distributed Dataset
  • Distribute workload across machines
  • Compute local frequencies
  • Aggregate for global mode
  1. Find Median in Distributed Dataset
  • Use distributed selection algorithms
  • Minimize data transfer
  • Ensure result accuracy

Implementation Strategy:

  • Use parallel processing
  • Implement efficient hashing
  • Handle data consistency

Distributed Mode and Median Calculation

Asked at Anthropic
technical
distributed systems
algorithms
big data

Design a system to find mode and median in a very large dataset using distributed computing.

Part 1: Mode Calculation

Input:
- Large dataset (size >> single machine memory)
- Array of available machines
- Each machine has limited memory

Requirements:
- Distribute workload efficiently
- Handle machine failures
- Minimize network communication
- Ensure accurate results

Approach:
1. Data Partitioning
2. Local Mode Calculation
3. Result Aggregation
4. Final Mode Selection

Part 2: Median Calculation (Follow-up)

Additional Challenges:
- Sorting distributed data
- Memory constraints
- Network bandwidth optimization
- Maintaining accuracy

Considerations:
- Approximate vs exact solutions
- Sampling techniques
- Parallel processing strategies
- Data skew handling

System Design Requirements:

  • Scalable architecture
  • Fault tolerance
  • Load balancing
  • Progress monitoring
  • Result verification

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