Stripe Internship Server-Log Penalty Interview

Role: Software Engineering Intern
Result: Advanced; final result not disclosed
Timing: The exact interview day was not shared. August 2021 follows the report month.

The task used a binary server log:

• 0 meant the server was running.
• 1 meant it was down.
• A down server before shutdown and a running server after shutdown each added a penalty.

The candidate first scored a supplied shutdown time, then found the best time. A final phase extracted valid inner begin...end logs from a larger string and found the best time for each.

The source did not disclose tie-breaking, full token rules, or a streaming interface.

Practice: shutdown penalty, best shutdown time, and log extraction.