Return top-3 content per category
MetaData Engineer · Onsite
Last updated
This question evaluates the ability to perform grouped top-k selection, deterministic tie-breaking and ordering, and to reason about algorithmic efficiency when manipulating structured datasets in the Data Manipulation (SQL/Python) domain for a Data Engineer role.
Given a collection of items with fields (content_id, category, rating), implement top_k_by_category(items, k= 3) that returns, for each category, the top 3 items by rating. Break ties by higher rating first, then by lexicographically smaller content_id, and keep results sorted by descending rating. Aim for O(n log k) per category using heaps or partial selection.
Solution walkthrough is for members
Get the full walkthrough with reference code and complexity analysis, plus Kitty Coach at 300 messages a day. Hints, the code runner and community answers stay free.