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Design JSON serialization for circular references

AirtableSoftware Engineer · Onsite

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This question evaluates understanding of deterministic, cross-language JSON serialization and deserialization for object graphs with cycles, including concepts such as cycle detection, stable object identifiers, preservation of shared subobjects, traversal-order determinism, input validation/security, and time/space complexity.

Design a JSON serialization and deserialization strategy that correctly handles circular references between objects (e.g., two dictionaries referencing each other as a 'partner'). Describe how you would: detect cycles; assign and manage stable object identifiers; prevent infinite recursion; preserve shared subobjects versus copying; choose and justify a traversal order (BFS vs. DFS); ensure determinism across runs; support primitives (str, int) and dictionaries; validate and secure the format against malicious inputs; and maintain cross-language compatibility if memory addresses are not stable. Analyze time and space complexity and discuss trade-offs among alternative designs (e.g., reference tables, anchor/alias schemes, or custom schemas).