Python Interview Preparation

Thanks for interviewing at Stripe. To make sure that we can use our time best in the interviews, we'd like to have you do some setup on your laptop in advance. If you don't have a laptop, let your recruiter know and they will supply you with a loaner laptop for your in-person interviews.

First, clone or download this repository to your computer via the links on the right (creating a fork of the repository is not necessary).

Note, we will be working with Python 3 (Python 3.6 or later). See the RealPython installation guide, if you haven't installed Python 3 yet.

We'll create a virtual environment with venv and install some Python packages that will be useful in your interviews.

If for some reason you must use Python 2.7, use virtualenv to create the virtual environment.

Create a new virtual environment called interview_env and activate it.

$ python3 -m venv ./interview_env
$ source ./interview_env/bin/activate

The activate script is for Bash and Zsh on Mac or Linux. For other shells, such as Fish or Csh, see the venv documentation.

On Windows (assuming cmd.exe):

> python3 -m venv .\interview_env
> .\interview_env\Scripts\activate

Next, install some requirements into the activated virtual environment:

(interview_env) $ pip install -r interview_requirements.txt

Finally, in that activated virtual environment, verify that your environment supports TLS 1.2 or later:

(interview_env) $ python verify_tls.py
TLS 1.2 supported; no action required.

If you see a response that begins with Error, follow the instructions it provides. MacOS SSL debugging may be helpful.