Code Room
CodingMediumcod-g1505
Subject Config parsingLevel Entry–Mid~14 minCommon in Algorithms & data structures interviewsIndustries Software development

Question

Before rolling out, a deploy pipeline prints how the proposed config differs from what is currently running. Both configs arrive as lines; parse each the usual way: trim, drop blanks and "#" comments, split at the first "=", trim key and value, repeated keys keep the final value. Produce one report entry per differing key: "+ key" when only the proposal has it, "- key" when only the running config has it, and "~ key" when both have it with different values. Order the report alphabetically by key name and return it as a list of strings. Identical keys produce nothing.

Implement
config_drift(current: list[str], proposed: list[str]) → list[str]
Examples
in[["a=1","b=2"],["b=3","c=4"]]out["- a","~ b","+ c"]
What a strong answer looks like

State 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.

Run or narrate your approach, then ask the coach.