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Find secret word with match-count feedback

GoogleSoftware Engineer · Technical Screen
HardSoftware EngineerTechnical ScreenCoding & Algorithms

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This question evaluates algorithmic reasoning and inference from constrained feedback, testing skills in information-theoretic deduction, pattern matching, and search strategy within a bounded-query interactive setting.

Problem

You are given a list of unique lowercase words, all of the same length (e.g., length = 6). One of these words is a secret word.

You can interact with a black-box API:

  • matchCount(guess) -> int: when you submit a word guess from the list, the API returns the number of positions i such that guess[i] == secret[i] (i.e., exact character match at the same index).

You are allowed to call matchCount at most 10 times.

Task

Design/implement a function (e.g., findSecretWord(words)) that uses the API to identify the secret word within the guess limit.

Notes / Constraints

  • words contains between 1 and 100 words.
  • All words have equal length L (commonly L = 6).
  • Every guess must be a word from words.
  • After each API response, you may adapt your next guess.

What to return

Depending on the interface, you may either:

  • return the identified secret word, or
  • stop once matchCount(guess) == L (found it).

(Your interviewer may treat this as an interactive problem; focus on strategy + correctness under the 10-guess constraint.)