The Encoded Signal

A medium Python interview practice problem on DataDriven. Write and execute real python code with instant grading.

Domain

Python

Difficulty

medium

Seniority

L4

Problem

A device firmware emits letter-frequency telemetry as a compact code with no literal letters in it, and you expand it into counts for the 26 lowercase letters a through z. A single digit from 1 to 9 names one of the first nine letters (`1` is a, `9` is i); two digits immediately followed by `#` name a letter by its position, so `10#` is j, `24#` is x, and `26#` is z. Either kind of letter token may carry a parenthesized count for how many times it occurs, like `1(3)` for three a's, while a bare token counts once, and repeated letters accumulate across the string. Return a 26-element list of totals, position 0 for a through position 25 for z.

Summary

Letters folded into digits, counts hidden in the punctuation.

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