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Event Emitter - Solution & Explanation

Medium12 min readAsked at: Amazon, Meta, Tiktok +1
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Problem Statement

Design an EventEmitter class. This interface is similar (but with some differences) to the one found in Node.js or the Event Target interface of the DOM. The EventEmitter should allow for subscribing to events and emitting them.

Your EventEmitter class should have the following two methods:

  • subscribe - This method takes in two arguments: the name of an event as a string and a callback function. This callback function will later be called when the event is emitted.
    An event should be able to have multiple listeners for the same event. When emitting an event with multiple callbacks, each should be called in the order in which they were subscribed. An array of results should be returned. You can assume no callbacks passed to subscribe are referentially identical.
    The subscribe method should also return an object with an unsubscribe method that enables the user to unsubscribe. When it is called, the callback should be removed from the list of subscriptions and undefined should be returned.
  • emit - This method takes in two arguments: the name of an event as a string and an optional array of arguments that will be passed to the callback(s). If there are no callbacks subscribed to the given event, return an empty array. Otherwise, return an array of the results of all callback calls in the order they were subscribed.

 

Example 1:

Input: 
actions = ["EventEmitter", "emit", "subscribe", "subscribe", "emit"], 
values = [[], ["firstEvent"], ["firstEvent", "function cb1() { return 5; }"],  ["firstEvent", "function cb1() { return 6; }"], ["firstEvent"]]
Output: [[],["emitted",[]],["subscribed"],["subscribed"],["emitted",[5,6]]]
Explanation: 
const emitter = new EventEmitter();
emitter.emit("firstEvent"); // [], no callback are subscribed yet
emitter.subscribe("firstEvent", function cb1() { return 5; });
emitter.subscribe("firstEvent", function cb2() { return 6; });
emitter.emit("firstEvent"); // [5, 6], returns the output of cb1 and cb2

Example 2:

Input: 
actions = ["EventEmitter", "subscribe", "emit", "emit"], 
values = [[], ["firstEvent", "function cb1(...args) { return args.join(','); }"], ["firstEvent", [1,2,3]], ["firstEvent", [3,4,6]]]
Output: [[],["subscribed"],["emitted",["1,2,3"]],["emitted",["3,4,6"]]]
Explanation: Note that the emit method should be able to accept an OPTIONAL array of arguments.

const emitter = new EventEmitter();
emitter.subscribe("firstEvent, function cb1(...args) { return args.join(','); });
emitter.emit("firstEvent", [1, 2, 3]); // ["1,2,3"]
emitter.emit("firstEvent", [3, 4, 6]); // ["3,4,6"]

Example 3:

Input: 
actions = ["EventEmitter", "subscribe", "emit", "unsubscribe", "emit"], 
values = [[], ["firstEvent", "(...args) => args.join(',')"], ["firstEvent", [1,2,3]], [0], ["firstEvent", [4,5,6]]]
Output: [[],["subscribed"],["emitted",["1,2,3"]],["unsubscribed",0],["emitted",[]]]
Explanation:
const emitter = new EventEmitter();
const sub = emitter.subscribe("firstEvent", (...args) => args.join(','));
emitter.emit("firstEvent", [1, 2, 3]); // ["1,2,3"]
sub.unsubscribe(); // undefined
emitter.emit("firstEvent", [4, 5, 6]); // [], there are no subscriptions

Example 4:

Input: 
actions = ["EventEmitter", "subscribe", "subscribe", "unsubscribe", "emit"], 
values = [[], ["firstEvent", "x => x + 1"], ["firstEvent", "x => x + 2"], [0], ["firstEvent", [5]]]
Output: [[],["subscribed"],["subscribed"],["unsubscribed",0],["emitted",[7]]]
Explanation:
const emitter = new EventEmitter();
const sub1 = emitter.subscribe("firstEvent", x => x + 1);
const sub2 = emitter.subscribe("firstEvent", x => x + 2);
sub1.unsubscribe(); // undefined
emitter.emit("firstEvent", [5]); // [7]

 

Constraints:

  • 1 <= actions.length <= 10
  • values.length === actions.length
  • All test cases are valid, e.g. you don't need to handle scenarios when unsubscribing from a non-existing subscription.
  • There are only 4 different actions: EventEmitter, emit, subscribe, and unsubscribe.
  • The EventEmitter action doesn't take any arguments.
  • The emit action takes between either 1 or 2 arguments. The first argument is the name of the event we want to emit, and the 2nd argument is passed to the callback functions.
  • The subscribe action takes 2 arguments, where the first one is the event name and the second is the callback function.
  • The unsubscribe action takes one argument, which is the 0-indexed order of the subscription made before.

Approach Overview

Problem Overview: Design an Event Emitter that allows clients to subscribe to an event and emit that event later. Each event can have multiple listeners (callbacks). When emit(eventName, args) is called, every subscribed callback for that event should run in order and return its result.

Approach 1: Using a HashMap for Event Listeners (Emit: O(n) time, O(n) space)

The most practical design stores event listeners in a hash map where the key is the event name and the value is a list of callback functions. When you call subscribe(event, callback), append the callback to the list for that event. The subscribe method also returns an unsubscribe function that removes the callback from the list when invoked.

When emit(event, args) runs, look up the event in the map and iterate through its callback list. Execute each function with the provided arguments and collect the returned values into a result array. The emit operation takes O(n) time where n is the number of listeners registered for that event, while subscription and lookup remain O(1) on average due to the hash map.

This approach mirrors how real-world event systems work in frameworks and Node.js. The combination of constant-time event lookup and sequential callback execution makes it efficient and easy to reason about. It relies heavily on the hash map data structure for quick event dispatch.

Approach 2: Using the Observer Pattern (Emit: O(n) time, O(n) space)

This problem is also a direct implementation of the Observer Pattern, a classic design pattern where a subject maintains a list of observers and notifies them when an event occurs. Each observer registers itself with the subject (the emitter), and the emitter broadcasts updates whenever an event is triggered.

Internally the implementation still maintains a collection of listeners per event, but the design is structured around objects representing observers and subscription handles. Each subscription object encapsulates the callback and provides an unsubscribe() method. When the event fires, the emitter iterates through all observers and invokes their update method.

The time complexity of emitting remains O(n) since every registered listener must run. Space complexity is also O(n) because all listeners must be stored in memory. This approach is preferred in systems that emphasize clean architecture and modular event-driven design. It closely aligns with system design principles and the observer pattern used in UI frameworks, messaging systems, and reactive programming.

Recommended for interviews: The hash map listener registry is the expected solution. It demonstrates understanding of event-driven design while keeping operations efficient. Showing the brute design idea first (storing callbacks per event) proves you understand the problem model, while implementing the hash map based dispatcher shows the engineering skill interviewers want to see.

Approach 1: Approach 1: Using a HashMap for Event Listeners

This approach uses a HashMap (or similar data structure) to maintain a list of listeners (callbacks) for each event. When an event is emitted, we iterate through the list of registered callbacks and invoke them. This list enables easy addition and removal of callbacks (for unsubscribe functionality) and supports ordered invocation on event emission.

The EventEmitter class contains a subscribe method to add event listeners to a dictionary, with event names as keys and arrays of callbacks as values. The emit method retrieves the listener list for a given event and executes each callback with provided arguments, returning an array of results. The unsubscribe feature is implemented by removing a callback from the array using an index.

Code

JavaScript

Python

Java

C++

C#

C

Complexity

Time Complexity: O(n) for emit, where n is the number of callbacks for the event. O(1) for subscribe and unsubscribe.
Space Complexity: O(m), where m is the number of events and subscribed callbacks.

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Approach 2: Approach 2: Using Observer Pattern

This approach employs the Observer pattern, common in design paradigms where a subject maintains a list of observers that react to state changes or events. In this context, the EventEmitter represents the Subject, and listeners are Observers.

In this JavaScript solution, the Observer class holds the callback function. The notify method executes the callback. EventEmitter manages observers, allowing subscriptions by creating Observer instances and using their notify methods in emit calls.

Code

JavaScript

Python

Complexity

Time Complexity: O(n) for notifying listeners (n is the number of listeners).
Space Complexity: O(m), where m consists of stored observers.

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Approach 3: Default Approach

Code

TypeScript

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Complexity Comparison

ApproachComplexity
Approach 1: Using a HashMap for Event Listeners

Time Complexity: O(n) for emit, where n is the number of callbacks for the event. O(1) for subscribe and unsubscribe.
Space Complexity: O(m), where m is the number of events and subscribed callbacks.

Approach 2: Using Observer Pattern

Time Complexity: O(n) for notifying listeners (n is the number of listeners).
Space Complexity: O(m), where m consists of stored observers.

Default Approach—

Detailed Complexity Analysis

ApproachTimeSpaceWhen to Use
HashMap for Event ListenersSubscribe: O(1), Emit: O(n)O(n)General solution for implementing event emitters with fast event lookup
Observer Pattern ImplementationEmit: O(n)O(n)When modeling structured event-driven architectures or design pattern discussions

Video Solution

Event Emitter - Leetcode 2694 - JavaScript 30-Day Challenge • NeetCodeIO • 9,767 views views

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Event Emitter easy or hard?
Event Emitter is considered a medium-level problem because it mixes data structures with system design concepts. The implementation itself is straightforward, but handling subscriptions, unsubscriptions, and ordered callback execution requires careful thinking.
Event Emitter Python/Java solution
In Python or Java, the same idea applies: store a Map from event names to lists of callbacks. The subscribe method adds a callback to the list, while emit iterates through the list and executes each function. The overall complexity remains O(1) for subscription and O(n) for emission.
How to solve Event Emitter in O(n)?
Use a hash map that maps event names to arrays or lists of callbacks. When emit is called, retrieve the list for that event and iterate through each callback while passing the provided arguments. Since every listener runs once, the emit operation naturally takes O(n) time.
What is the best approach for Event Emitter?
The best approach stores event listeners in a hash map where the key is the event name and the value is a list of callbacks. Subscribing adds a function to the list, and emitting an event iterates through that list and executes each callback. This keeps event lookup O(1) and emission O(n) where n is the number of listeners.
Is Event Emitter asked at Google/Amazon/Meta?
Event-driven design questions appear in interviews at companies like Google, Amazon, and Meta, especially for frontend and systems roles. Variants of the Event Emitter problem test understanding of callbacks, subscription management, and observer-style architectures.
What data structure is used in Event Emitter?
The core data structure is a hash map (dictionary) that maps event names to a list of callback functions. This enables constant-time event lookup and efficient iteration over all listeners during emission.
What is the time complexity of Event Emitter?
Subscription typically runs in O(1) time because the listener is appended to a list associated with the event name. Emitting an event takes O(n) time since every registered callback must be executed. Space complexity is O(n) for storing all listeners.

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