Boston's transportation system, the MBTA (https://mbta.com/), has a website with APIs https://api-v3.mbta.com/docs/swagger/index.html. You will not need an API key, but you might get rate-limited without one.
The MBTA's documentation https://api-v3.mbta.com/docs/swagger/index.html is written using OpenAPI/Swagger.
Question 1
Write a program that retrieves data representing all, what we'll call "subway" routes: "Light Rail" (type 0) and “Heavy Rail” (type 1). The program should list their “long names” on the console. Partial example of long name output: Red Line, Blue Line, Orange Line... There are two ways to filter results for subway-only routes. Think about the two options below and choose: 1. https://api-v3.mbta.com/routes 2. https://api-v3.mbta.com/routes?filter[type]=0,1 Please document your decision and your reasons for it.
Question 2 Extend your program so it displays the following additional information. 1. The name of the subway route with the most stops as well as a count of its stops. 2. The name of the subway route with the fewest stops as well as a count of its stops. 3. A list of the stops that connect two or more subway routes along with the relevant route names for each of those stops.
Question 3 Extend your program again such that the user can provide any two stops on the subway routes you listed for question 1. List a rail route you could travel to get from one stop to the other. We will not evaluate your solution based upon the efficiency or cleverness of your route-finding solution. Pick a simple solution that answers the question. We will want you to understand and be able to explain how your algorithm performs. Examples: 1. Davis to Kendall -> Redline 2. Ashmont to Arlington -> Redline, Greenline How you handle input, represent train routes, and present output is your choice.
You need Python 3.5 or later to run challenge.
broad-challenge can be downloaded using via git clone:
$ git clone https://github.com/ehigham/broad-challenge.git
For development, it's a good idea to set up a virtual environment (if you just want to run the code, you can skip this step)
$ cd broad-challenge $ python -m venv ./.venv
All dependencies required to build, test and run the code can be installed using the requirements file:
$ pip install -r ./requirements.txt
The Makefile documents a number of targets. Most useful of them all is test, lint and coverage.
$ make test
To see all options, enter
$ python challenge.py --help
Options and Switches:
--list-routes Lists all "Light" and "Heavy" rail routes
--print-route {longest, shortest} Prints the selected route with its number of stops
--list-connections Lists all stops that connect two or more routes, along with the associated routes
--plan-route START FINISH List the subway routes needed to travel from the stop START to the stop FINISH (case insensitive). Names with spaces should be enclosed in quotes.
Example:
$ python challenge.py --plan-route Prudential "Back Bay"
Example Output:
Prudential (Green Line E) Park Street (Red Line) Downtown Crossing (Orange Line) Back Bay ()