The Shortlist

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

Domain

Python

Difficulty

medium

Seniority

L5

Problem

A scoring pipeline emits records as it runs, each a dict carrying a `category` label and a numeric `value`, and downstream only wants a per-category shortlist. For every category that appears, return its `n` highest-`value` records keyed by that category, passing the original dicts through untouched. When records in a category share a value, the one that appeared earlier in `records` comes first; a category with fewer than `n` records contributes all it has, and empty input yields an empty dict.

Summary

In every field, only a few rise to the top. Keep them.

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