update

backend/readme.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Backend Challenge
 
-This challenge is part of the iOS hiring process at [Heart
+This challenge is part of the backend hiring process at [Heart
 Hands](https://hearthands.tech/).
 
 ## Why this challenge?
@@ -12,48 +12,45 @@ our team.
 
 This exercise has been designed to give a glimpse of what it is like to build a
 messaging app, and the kind of technical challenges we face and care about. We
-know time is precious, and we are expecting you to spend no more than 48 hours
-on this.
+are expecting you to spend between 4 and 6 hours on this challenge.
 
 ## Instructions
 
-You are tasked with the implementation of the backend for a messaging app that
-allows users to send and receive messages in private 1:1 chats.
+You are tasked with the server-side implementation of a messaging app that
+allows clients to send and receive messages in private 1:1 chats.
 
-You are being given one constraint: you must use Go. For the rest, you are free
-to choose your data layer, network protocol, and design your API as you see fit.
-You are purposefully being given a lot of freedom here, and you will not be
-judged on these decisions alone, but we are expecting you to understand the
-trade-offs you make.
+We enforce no technical constraints: you are free to choose the language, data
+layer, network protocol, and design your API as you see fit. You are
+purposefully being given a lot of freedom here, and you will not be judged on
+these decisions alone, but we will challenge the understanding of the trade-offs
+you make.
 
-## Requirements
+Functional requirements:
 
-What are we expecting you to build?
-
-- [ ] Users should be able to authenticate with their phone numbers
-- [ ] Users should be able to list all their ongoing chats
-- [ ] Users should be able receive messages from other users
-- [ ] Users should be able to send messages to other users
+- [ ] Clients should be able to uniquely identify themselves with a unique phone number
+- [ ] Clients should be able to send messages to other clients
+- [ ] Clients should be able to list all their chats with other clients
+- [ ] Clients should be able to list all messages in a chat
 
 ## Bonus
 
 Some topics to look at to dive deeper:
 
-- [ ] Users should be able to authenticate with their email address
-- [ ] Add support for SMS forwarding to relay the messages to the users phone numbers
-- [ ] Add support for Email forwarding to relay the messages to the users email addresses
-- [ ] Make the backend idempotent in regards to what you receive
-- [ ] Add support for a read/unread message status
-- [ ] Users should be able to instantly receive messages as they are sent
+- [ ] Add support for paginated chats and messages
+- [ ] Choose a network protocol that enables soft real-time message delivery to clients
+- [ ] Support SMS forwarding to relay the messages to the clients phone numbers
+- [ ] Support Email forwarding to relay the messages to the clients email addresses
+- [ ] Make the server message ingestion idempotent
+- [ ] Add support for sent/delivered/read message status
 
-## What we look at
+## Challenge Review
 
-We know it's a short amount of time, and you will have to prioritize what you
-spend time on. A few things that are important for us and that will be
-considered during the review:
+We know you are going to spend a limit time on this challenge, and thus will
+have to prioritize what you work on. A few things that are important for us and
+that will be considered during the review:
 - collaboration: is the code easy to read, maintain, and evolve?
 - features: what did you prioritize to maximize your impact?
 - testability: is the code tested or easily testable?
-- documentation: is the readme clear? are important parts of the code documented? can we follow your thought process with your commits?
+- documentation: is the readme clear? are important parts of the code documented? can we follow your thought process by looking at the git history?
 
 Good luck, and enjoy!

ios/readme.md

@@ -12,21 +12,18 @@ our team.
 
 This exercise has been designed to give a glimpse of what it is like to build a
 messaging app, and the kind of technical challenges we face and care about. We
-know time is precious, and we are expecting you to spend no more than 48 hours
-on this.
+are expecting you to spend between 4 and 6 hours on this challenge.
 
 ## Instructions
 
 You are tasked with the implementation of a messaging app that allows to send
-and receive messages with several bots, each in their own chat.
+and receive messages with several bots, each in their own 1:1 chat.
 
 A server is available for you to use. You can read more about it in
 [`./server`](./server). Its documentation contains informations on how it can be
 run, and what kinds of API endpoints & entities are available.
 
-## Requirements
-
-What are we expecting you to build?
+Functional requirements:
 
 - [ ] The app should start on a screen showing the list of all chats
 - [ ] The app should allow opening each chat individually
@@ -57,12 +54,12 @@ receive the Figma link along with the challenge instructions.
 
 ## Challenge Review
 
-We know it's a short amount of time, and you will have to prioritize what you
-spend time on. A few things that are important for us and that will be
-considered during the review:
+We know you are going to spend a limit time on this challenge, and thus will
+have to prioritize what you work on. A few things that are important for us and
+that will be considered during the review:
 - collaboration: is the code easy to read, maintain, and evolve?
 - features: what did you prioritize to maximize your impact?
 - testability: is the code tested or easily testable?
-- documentation: is the readme clear? are important parts of the code documented? can we follow your thought process with your commits?
+- documentation: is the readme clear? are important parts of the code documented? can we follow your thought process by looking at the git history?
 
 Good luck, and enjoy!