## Problem Given a hand of 5 playing cards, return its poker rank as a string. Cards are represented as two-character strings: rank (`2-9`, `T`, `J`, `Q`, `K`, `A`) followed by suit (`s`, `h`, `d`, `c`). Ranks in descending order: `"straight_flush"`, `"four_of_a_kind"`, `"full_house"`, `"flush"`, `"straight"`, `"three_of_a_kind"`, `"two_pair"`, `"one_pair"`, `"high_card"`. ```python def evaluate_hand(cards: List[str]) -> str: ... ``` **Example:** ``` Input: ["As", "Ks", "Qs", "Js", "Ts"] Output: "straight_flush" Input: ["2h", "2d", "2c", "3s", "3h"] Output: "full_house" Input: ["Ah", "7c", "3d", "9s", "Jh"] Output: "high_card" ``` ## Follow-ups 1. Extend to compare two hands and return the winner. 2. Handle the edge case where Ace can be low (A-2-3-4-5 straight). 3. How would you evaluate a 7-card hand (Texas Hold'em) efficiently? 4. Describe how you would test this function for correctness.

InterviewDB Question

Card Hand Evaluation - Implement Poker Hand Ranking

phone

Question Details

Problem Given a hand of 5 playing cards, return its poker rank as a string. Cards are represented as two-character strings: rank (2-9, T, J, Q, K, A) followed by suit (s, h, d, c). Ranks in descending order: "straight_flush", "four_of_a_kind", "full_…

Full Details

🔒

Unlock full leaked content

Full insider details, leaked discussions, and candidate experiences.

Get Premium →

Topics

Coding Onsite Phone

More from Rippling

Reddit Rippling SDE-2 Phone Screening (Reject) 1p3a Rippling Software Engineer Interview Experience: AI Coding Rounds and Offer Reddit Rippling Fullstack SWE Intern Interview 1p3a Rippling Fulltime SDE Video Interview Experience: Expense System Challenge 1p3a Rippling Senior SDE Onsite Interview System Design and Coding

← All Rippling questions Rippling Software Engineer Questions → All Hash Table Questions →