Question
Implement a password verifier using PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256. Given a stored record string of the form 'pbkdf2_sha256$<iterations>$<salt_hex>$<hash_hex>' and a candidate password, return True if the password reproduces the stored hash. Derive the key with hashlib.pbkdf2_hmac('sha256', password_bytes, salt_bytes, iterations) where salt is the hex-decoded salt and the result is compared using a constant-time comparison. Return False if the record is malformed (wrong number of '$'-separated fields or wrong algorithm tag).
verify_password(record: str, password: str) → bool["pbkdf2_sha256$1000$a1b2c3d4$8e6ba43d3bb656493844999beb2e04ff4f723f2169e2af3ae7ee1b6768b29288","hunter2"]outtrueState your approach and its time/space complexity out loud before you optimize. Handle the edge cases (empty input, duplicates, overflow), and say why you chose this over the brute force. Green tests are the floor, not the grade.
Vibe coding: describe the solution in plain language (or narrate it) and the coach grades your approach. Generating runnable code from your description is coming next.