Illumio_Coding_Challenge

2018 Illumio Internship challenge (build a firewall validator). I set a timer for 90 minutes before beginning. This solution is not yet complete, but only a reflection of what I could do in 90 minutes. If given more time (about 30min-1hr longer, I would have been able to finish).

How you tested your solution

I tested my solution by running print statements (similar to asserts) on the examples given in the spec sheet. I was 70% satisfied when I passed all those cases, but was not content with 70% satisfaction. I increased that number by writing checks to ensure even edge cases would work.

Here are a few of the edge cases I was able to think about:

1. Empty ranges
2. Ranges that fall outside of the numerical values accepted
3. Duplicate values (did not have time to implement)

Any interesting coding, design, or algorithmic choices you’d like to point out

I used dictionaries in python because they can be accessed in constant O(1) time. An important part of this assignment is ensuring scalability. A typical firewall log can consist of millions of lines, so must be able to lookup and match the rules in constant time.

Any refinements or optimizations that you would’ve implemented if you had more time

1. I would have implemented a map of <dicts, ints> to count the number of like entries to keep count of common incoming ports.
2. I would optimize the main main_utility_function to work in a smaller polynomial time degree than current. It is a pretty naive approach to this problem and runs in O(n) time to iterate through the rules. I would try to make the algorithm run in O(1) time.

My Illumio Role Preference Ranking

I am open to trying to fit into any role that is needed, but here is a ranking of my interests:

1. Data
2. Platform
3. Policy