Coding - Camel Cards (Simplified Poker) - Rippling Interview Question | DarkInterview

Camel Cards (Simplified Poker)

Examples

Example 1:

Input: hand1 = "2332", hand2 = "2442"

Output: "HAND_2"

Explanation:

Example 2:

Input: hand1 = "9999", hand2 = "2332"

Output: "HAND_1"

Explanation:

Example 3:

Input: hand1 = "2345", hand2 = "1345"

Output: "HAND_1"

Explanation:

Implement a simplified poker-like game called Camel Cards to determine which of two players has the stronger hand.

Each hand has exactly 4 cards and is represented as a string such as "2332" or "9998".

Card ranks are ordered from high to low as:

Each hand belongs to exactly one of these types, from strongest to weakest:

Four of a kind: all four cards are the same, for example "9999"
Two pair: two cards of one rank and two cards of another rank, for example "2332"
Three of a kind: three cards of one rank and one different card, for example "9998"
One pair: two cards of one rank and two distinct other cards, for example "5233"
High card: all four cards are distinct, for example "2345"

Implement:

Return:

Comparison rules:

Design the solution so adding more hand types later is straightforward.

Both hands are two pair. Compare from right to left: 2 == 2, then 3 < 4, so hand2 wins.

Four of a kind beats two pair.

Both are high-card hands. From right to left the last three cards tie, then 2 > 1 at the first dealt card.

hand1.length == 4

hand2.length == 4

Each character is a digit from 1 to 9

Tie-breaking compares the original deal order from right to left