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GeneralRe: How would you store this data (interview question) Pin
SledgeHammer013-Feb-12 5:45
SledgeHammer013-Feb-12 5:45 
GeneralRe: How would you store this data (interview question) Pin
BobJanova3-Feb-12 6:09
BobJanova3-Feb-12 6:09 
GeneralRe: How would you store this data (interview question) Pin
PIEBALDconsult3-Feb-12 12:52
mvePIEBALDconsult3-Feb-12 12:52 
GeneralRe: How would you store this data (interview question) Pin
SledgeHammer013-Feb-12 13:22
SledgeHammer013-Feb-12 13:22 
GeneralRe: How would you store this data (interview question) Pin
PIEBALDconsult3-Feb-12 4:18
mvePIEBALDconsult3-Feb-12 4:18 
GeneralRe: How would you store this data (interview question) Pin
SledgeHammer013-Feb-12 5:14
SledgeHammer013-Feb-12 5:14 
AnswerRe: How would you store this data (interview question) Pin
BobJanova3-Feb-12 4:42
BobJanova3-Feb-12 4:42 
AnswerRe: How would you store this data (interview question) Pin
BillWoodruff3-Feb-12 4:47
professionalBillWoodruff3-Feb-12 4:47 
I'm confused: you say the specific question asked was specifically about checking available license plates, but, then, you say the question was about data structures, and databases are "irrelevant:" did the interviewer(s) tell you the question was about data structures, and exclude "databases," specifically, or not ?

Or are these conclusions that you inferred from the interviewer(s) question ?

imho any perceived ambiguity in the interviewer(s)' question "opens the door" for you to follow-through with clarifying questions that attempt to frame the question asked in terms of real-world scenarios: like, as mentioned in a comment above, that the largest possible number of license plates for any one real state (in the US) would be far less than 78 billion ... as in California's 37 million, of which we can safely assume that many do not have a driver's license.

My answer would have been to say straight out: that storing the total possible set of all possible variations of license plates was absurd, no matter what data structures would be used, and that the database should store only the plates already allocated, and use a function to generate new ones at random, or new ones that meet some predefined criteria like having the letters "IAMOK" somewhere in the sequence (similar to the custom tag services offered by many states for which a fee is charged).

If the interviewer(s) then altered the question, so it became, in general: how would you store very large amounts of data: I would have replied that to answer that question requires a consideration of the internal organization of the data, and its usage, and storage (centralized vs. distributed), and there is no "one-size-fits-all" answer, and that a good programmer becomes intimately familiar with the internal organization of the data, its real-world "incarnation," and how the data is used in the real world, and then selects data structures based on several criteria, including efficiency of storage, compatibility with existing hardware and network constraints, the speed of access that end-users will demand/require, etc.

And then, I'd probably walk over to the food-stamp office, to collect my monthly allocation, and think about the next job interview Smile | :)

best, Bill
"Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery, like the idle, curved tunnels of leaf miners on the surface of a leaf. We must somehow take a wider view, look at the whole landscape, really see it, and describe what's going on here. Then we can at least wail the right question into the swaddling band of darkness, or, if it comes to that, choir the proper praise." Annie Dillard

GeneralRe: How would you store this data (interview question) Pin
SledgeHammer013-Feb-12 5:19
SledgeHammer013-Feb-12 5:19 
GeneralRe: How would you store this data (interview question) Pin
BillWoodruff3-Feb-12 5:59
professionalBillWoodruff3-Feb-12 5:59 
GeneralRe: How would you store this data (interview question) Pin
SledgeHammer013-Feb-12 7:06
SledgeHammer013-Feb-12 7:06 
GeneralRe: How would you store this data (interview question) Pin
BillWoodruff3-Feb-12 7:36
professionalBillWoodruff3-Feb-12 7:36 
GeneralRe: How would you store this data (interview question) Pin
SledgeHammer013-Feb-12 8:19
SledgeHammer013-Feb-12 8:19 
GeneralRe: How would you store this data (interview question) Pin
BillWoodruff3-Feb-12 13:33
professionalBillWoodruff3-Feb-12 13:33 
GeneralRe: How would you store this data (interview question) Pin
SledgeHammer013-Feb-12 13:53
SledgeHammer013-Feb-12 13:53 
Questionevents Pin
michaelgr12-Feb-12 8:08
michaelgr12-Feb-12 8:08 
AnswerRe: events Pin
SledgeHammer012-Feb-12 8:19
SledgeHammer012-Feb-12 8:19 
Generallots of license plates Pin
Luc Pattyn2-Feb-12 8:27
sitebuilderLuc Pattyn2-Feb-12 8:27 
GeneralRe: lots of license plates Pin
SledgeHammer012-Feb-12 8:30
SledgeHammer012-Feb-12 8:30 
AnswerRe: lots of license plates Pin
Luc Pattyn2-Feb-12 8:31
sitebuilderLuc Pattyn2-Feb-12 8:31 
GeneralRe: lots of license plates Pin
BillWoodruff3-Feb-12 5:02
professionalBillWoodruff3-Feb-12 5:02 
AnswerRe: events Pin
Luc Pattyn2-Feb-12 8:22
sitebuilderLuc Pattyn2-Feb-12 8:22 
AnswerRe: events Pin
Bernhard Hiller2-Feb-12 21:29
Bernhard Hiller2-Feb-12 21:29 
GeneralRe: events Pin
michaelgr13-Feb-12 23:18
michaelgr13-Feb-12 23:18 
GeneralRe: events Pin
BobJanova4-Feb-12 1:39
BobJanova4-Feb-12 1:39 

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