TL;DR:
I'm exploring how ChatGPT can assist in software engineering and what its role might be in the future. While it's undoubtedly intelligent, software engineers are still essential. ChatGPT offers valuable insights, helps structure thoughts, and accelerates problem-solving, but it doesn't replace critical thinking or deep understanding. You still need to analyze, debug, and refine its solutions.
So lets move to the question. I asked ChatGPT the following:
I have a list of product family codes for example: family_1, 3 family_2, 30 family_3, 301 family_4, 3010 family_5, 4010 I need to find the algorithm in Java, to provide a product code in a method and give me back which family this product belongs. The product code looks like 301020. The first X number of digits shows the product family code. So in this example, the returned family should be family_4. Another example is that product code 3015010 should return family_3 as the matching digits are 301. Please help me with the code.
And the answer was:
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;
public class ProductFamilyMatcher {
static class TrieNode {
Map children = new HashMap<>();
String familyName = null;
}
static Map familyCodes = new HashMap<>();
static void addFamily(String code, String familyCode){
familyCodes.put(code, familyCode);
}
static String resolve(String productCode ){
Set filtered = familyCodes.keySet().stream()
.filter(key -> productCode.startsWith(key))
.sorted( )
.collect(Collectors.toSet());
int lenght = 0;
filtered.forEach( key -> {
if (lenght < key.length()) {
}
});
return "";
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.printf("Hello and welcome!");
addFamily("3", "1");
addFamily("30", "2");
addFamily("301", "3");
addFamily("3010", "4");
for (int i = 1; i <= 5; i++) {
System.out.println("i = " + i);
}
}
}
Then I asked:
What is the Big-O complexity in this case?
The answer was:
The time complexity of this algorithm can be analyzed based on the operations in the findProductFamily method. Total Time Complexity: O(N×M) - N is the number of family codes in the map. - M is the length of the product code. Space Complexity: O(N) - We are storing N family codes in the map.
Then I asked:
Could we use a tree to improve performance?
The answer was:
Yes! You're on the right track. Using a prefix tree (Trie) can significantly improve performance by reducing the number of comparisons. Time Complexity for querying: O(M), where M is the length of the product code. This is a significant improvement over O(N×M).
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;
public class ProductFamilyMatcher {
// Trie Node class
static class TrieNode {
Map children = new HashMap<>();
String familyName = null; // This will store the family name at the leaf node
}
// Root of the Trie
private static final TrieNode root = new TrieNode();
// Method to insert family codes into the Trie
private static void insertFamilyCode(String familyCode, String familyName) {
TrieNode currentNode = root;
// Traverse each character in the family code
for (char c : familyCode.toCharArray()) {
currentNode = currentNode.children.computeIfAbsent(c, k -> new TrieNode());
}
// Set the family name at the leaf node
currentNode.familyName = familyName;
}
// Method to find the family for a given product code
public static String findProductFamily(String productCode) {
TrieNode currentNode = root;
// Traverse the Trie based on the product code
for (char c : productCode.toCharArray()) {
currentNode = currentNode.children.get(c);
if (currentNode == null) {
return "No matching family found"; // If no matching family code prefix
}
}
// Return the family name at the last matched node
return currentNode.familyName != null ? currentNode.familyName : "No matching family found";
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Insert family codes into the Trie
insertFamilyCode("1", "family_1");
insertFamilyCode("3", "family_2");
insertFamilyCode("301", "family_3");
insertFamilyCode("3010", "family_4");
insertFamilyCode("4010", "family_5");
// Test cases
System.out.println(findProductFamily("301020")); // Expected output: family_4
System.out.println(findProductFamily("3015010")); // Expected output: family_3
System.out.println(findProductFamily("401234")); // Expected output: family_5
System.out.println(findProductFamily("12345")); // Expected output: family_1
}
}
The code above does not work.
find the fixed code on github or below
package interview;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;
public class ProductFamilyMatcher {
// Trie Node class
static class TrieNode {
Map children = new HashMap<>();
String familyName = null; // This will store the family name at the leaf node
}
// Root of the Trie
private static final TrieNode root = new TrieNode();
// Method to insert family codes into the Trie
private static void insertFamilyCode(String familyCode, String familyName) {
TrieNode currentNode = root;
// Traverse each character in the family code
for (char c : familyCode.toCharArray()) {
currentNode = currentNode.children.computeIfAbsent(c, k -> new TrieNode());
}
// Set the family name at the leaf node
currentNode.familyName = familyName;
}
// Method to find the family for a given product code
public static String findProductFamily(String productCode) {
TrieNode currentNode = root;
TrieNode lastMatchNode = root;
// Traverse the Trie based on the product code
for (char c : productCode.toCharArray()) {
currentNode = currentNode.children.get(c);
if (currentNode == null) {
break;
} else {
lastMatchNode = currentNode;
}
}
// Return the family name at the last matched node
return lastMatchNode.familyName != null ? lastMatchNode.familyName : "No matching family found";
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Insert family codes into the Trie
insertFamilyCode("1", "family_1");
insertFamilyCode("3", "family_2");
insertFamilyCode("301", "family_3");
insertFamilyCode("3010", "family_4");
insertFamilyCode("4010", "family_5");
// Test cases
System.out.println(findProductFamily("301020")); // Expected output: family_4
System.out.println(findProductFamily("3015010")); // Expected output: family_3
System.out.println(findProductFamily("401234")); // Expected output: family_5
System.out.println(findProductFamily("12345")); // Expected output: family_1
}
}
Then I asked:
tell some reasons why I should always validate and check the code that you(chatgpt) suggest
The answer was:
It's always a good idea to validate and check the code I suggest for several reasons: 1. Context Limitations I rely on the context you provide, but I might miss specific project constraints, coding standards, or architectural decisions. If I misunderstand your requirements, my solution might not fit your exact needs. 2. Syntax & Compatibility Issues While I aim to generate syntactically correct code, minor errors may occur due to differences in language versions, frameworks, or dependencies. Your environment (e.g., Java version, Spring Boot configuration) might have constraints I’m unaware of. 3. Security Concerns Code involving authentication, encryption, or external inputs should always be reviewed for potential vulnerabilities. I don't run security audits, so it's crucial to check for risks like SQL injection, XSS, or insecure data handling. 4. Performance Optimization I might suggest a working solution, but not necessarily the most efficient one. Some optimizations depend on your data size, concurrency needs, or specific business rules. 5. Integration with Existing Codebase My code suggestions may not perfectly align with your existing architecture, patterns, or dependencies. You may need to adapt my code to match your team's coding style and best practices. 6. Testing & Edge Cases My code is not tested in a real environment, so unexpected edge cases might arise. Always run unit and integration tests to verify correctness and stability. 7. Legal & Licensing Considerations If you're using open-source dependencies, verify their licenses to avoid compliance issues. 8. Business Logic Accuracy I don’t have deep domain knowledge of your specific business rules unless explicitly provided. Double-check that my logic aligns with your requirements, especially for critical applications.
Final Thoughts:
ChatGPT is an intelligent tool, but it reduces your ability to think and organize your thoughts. I got a solution, but I had to validate and debug it myself to make it work.
posted 19.02.2025