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I would pass the shit out of this question because it's right in my wheelhouse, but I don't consider myself a particularly exceptional programmer. I have a CS degree, but I'm positive I'd fail a FAANG interview w/o advance prep. I'm really comfortable at modifying existing code[1], gluing together existing solutions, and know enough C to get through this question.
But the OP says this:
> When you’re maintaining a large codebase, there are always going to be codepaths you don’t fully understand
Ugh... I hate modifying code I don't understand. That doesn't mean I need to understand the entire code base. But if I'm modifying a portion of the code base, I'm loath to touch it till I understand what it's doing.
[1] e.g. https://github.com/git/git/search?q=jaysoffian&type=commits
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Protip: if you're interviewing for a more senior position, the correct answer would not be to go and waste 3 hours implementing something that then you have to maintain forever. The best answer, from an engineering perspective, would be noticing or (knowing) that memcached supports a CAS command (https://github.com/memcached/memcached/wiki/Commands#cas) that would allow to implement equivalent functionality, and try to understand why that would not be a viable solution. If, and only if, it's confirmed it's not a viable solution then you should spend the 3 hours (+ all the maintenance effort required until the end of life for that solution).
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