Top 10 Programming/coding Interview Questions For 2021
A software developer interview gauges your ability to understand the programming languages required for the job and tests your general coding knowledge. In this article, we review 10 basic coding interview questions with sample answers, plus provide tips for preparing for your interview.
Read more: Learn About Being a Software Developer
Where Can I Learn What Questions Each Company Will Ask Me
As I mentioned, the coding questions asked in an interview will differ based on the company the position in question. Its important to figure out in advance what common question are asked for the company youre interviewing with. Generally, you can find this information in a few places:
- The job description: to gauge the focus of the questions. For example, an entry level developer will be asked far more questions on data structures than a senior developer. Sites like Glassdoor will sometimes provide common questions as well.
- Coding Interview: This site provides detailed guides and question breakdowns for many big tech companies. You can read up on the unique processes alongside the top coding questions.
- The company website: most companies will provide details on their interview process, including lists of common behavioral and technical questions. You should also look at a companys Values page.
- Current/former employees: online forums, blogs, and the like are a great resource, as current or former employees commonly discuss their interview process.
- Online video/course tutorials: many online tutorials offer in-depth guides for company-specific interviews. Just may sure that the site explains where they are getting their information
- Ask the recruiter: if you are in contact with a recruiter, you can ask them directly for resources and lists of questions. They may provide this to you when you agree to an interview, but it cant hurt to ask.
How To Tackle The Data Flow Interview Question
Its a mammoth task for a candidate to get the data flow right in the first place. This is because devising it is not a singular task. It takes a combination of a viable approach and efficient method to create the most robust data flow.
Robust Data Flow = Viable approach + efficient method
Again, this doesnt make it an impossible task. To get through the interview door, though, you must think in advance, well before an opportunity is presented.
The key is to take a top-down approach, with few actions following a lot of thinking.
Also Check: How To Have A Good Job Interview
Binary Tree Programming Questions
Related:35 R Programming Interview Questions To Help You Prepare
First Things First Tell Me About Yourself
After you apply and a company has an interest in you, the first step is usually to schedule a phone interview. This is typically a pretty relaxed conversation with a member of HR.
You can expect them to ask primarily about your job history, what you are looking for next, and most importantly, why you are applying for a position at their company.
Just because this is typically easier than the other phases of the interview process does not mean you should not prepare for it. A few questions to prepare for are:
Tell me a little bit about yourself
This is a good time to give your elevator pitch. This will likely be one of the first questions you are asked and usually can be a great tone-setter for the remainder of the interview.
If you tend to talk fast, take a deep breath before you answer and try to speak slowly and clearly. A few items you want to mention in your response are:
- Ethos or interests you share with the company
- What excites you about software development
- Future goals that this company can help fulfill
What is a recent project you worked on that you are proud of?
Like most of these questions, the interviewer is not solely curious about your technical achievements. They are also looking for cues that convey you can communicate well, are reliable, and are someone who would get along with the other members of the team.
Try to be enthusiastic and answer questions fully, without rambling too much. An effective framework for answering these types of questions is:
Also Check: How To Ace A Virtual Interview
Get Your Stories Straight
you will use your prepared answers during an interview.
The problem is that they require deep thought and introspection to answer, so it�s important to do that thinking in advance. Take an hour and think about the answers to these questions . For questions where you need to tell a story, your answer should follow this format:
Before each interview, go through the entire list and practice your answers out loud. Doing this will give you an edge over the other candidates, because it will make you more comfortable during the interview. When asked a question, other candidates will be staring at the ceiling saying “ummm”, trying to remember everything that happened to them in the the past five years. Meanwhile, you’ll smile, look the interviewer in the eye, and launch into your story.
Why Are Coding Questions Asked In Ds Interviews
What exactly is a coding interview? We use the phrase coding interview to refer to any technical session that involves coding in any programming language other than a query language like SQL. In todays market, you can expect a coding interview with just about any data science job.
Why? Coding is an essential part of your DS careers. Here are three reasons:
- DS is a technical subject. The bulk of a data science job involves collecting, cleaning, and processing data into usable formats. Therefore, to get work done, basic programming proficiency is a must.
- Lots of real-world data science projects are highly collaborative, involving multiple stakeholders. Data scientists who are equipped with stronger fundamental CS skills will find it easier to work closely with engineers and other partners.
- In many companies, data scientists are responsible for shipping production code, such as data pipelines and machine learning models. Strong programming skills are essential for projects of this type.
To sum up, strong coding skills are necessary to perform well in many data science positions. If you cannot show that you possess those skills in the coding interview, you will not get the job.
You May Like: What Answers To Give In A Job Interview
What You Should Do:
- Think of your hobby project in terms of these questions. Make a few notes answering those questions. This will give you examples to speak about when asked during the interview, even when your hobby project is nowhere near completion.
- Start building it, with a faint idea of a real-world deployment someday . This will not only strengthen your confidence but also give you a sense of meaning well before you have a programming interview to tackle.
- Apply the same questions to another problem, yet another problem, and so on. For example, think about how a school management system can be converted into an office management system with many components intact? This way, your solution space will expand, and when asked about in an interview, you will take less time mentally categorizing the problem.
How Would You Find The Maximum Chain Length Of A Pair
You may find that preparing for the hard skills portion of your programming interview is fairly straightforward. You can find practice tests in books and online that offer you a chance to simulate the technical elements of your programming interview. You can focus your studies on understanding and being able to explain the processes you may use.
Be thorough in your response and use the correct terminology for elements and systems you reference. After you explain your method, write out the code for your solution.
Example:I would use a sorting mechanism to sort within the given parameters for the pair. Then, I would use a LIS process to compare the elements. There are other methods, but I would try this one first. Would you like me to write the code out?
Related: How to Prepare for a Technical Interview
Read Also: How To Do Podcast Interviews Remotely
How To Completely Prepare For Tech Interviews
A majority of college students hold a vision of getting into their dream company after completing their graduation. And why only college students, even many working professionals want to get rid out of their current job and get into their dream job or company eagerly.
Butwhat comes between these individuals and their dream job?? Okay, it is the INTERVIEW PROCESS!
Yes, to secure the desired job in your targeted company like Amazon, Microsoft, Swiggy, etc. youre first required to crack their multiple interview rounds. And to prepare for these tech interviews is not an easy-to-go task, especially for the freshers who often come across numerous problems such as what to prepare, where to prepare, etc.
However, things are not that difficult too as it seems. One can conveniently prepare for the tech interviews, whether it be of a startup or an IT giant if he follows the right preparation roadmap and strategies with sheer determination and consistency. Here, in this article, well get to know what skills you need to learn or what things you need to do, to crack the interview of any big tech company. Lets get started:
Data Structures And Algorithms
Impact: very highFrequency: very high
Most of the technical questions you will face in your coding interviews are related to data structures and algorithms.
If you dont know what data structures are, then you need to build a strong foundation in computer science first before you are ready for the next steps.
In other words, if you are not familiar with terms like linked lists, trees, graphs, binary search, and dynamic programming , then you have some work to do!
A solid understanding of data structures and algorithms help you write efficient programs that can run faster and utilize resources more efficiently.
It is one thing to write code that is functionally correct, it is a completely different thing to write efficient code that is functionally correct.
Interviewers value candidates who can analyze code, spot performance bottlenecks, and possibly come up with better solutions.
Don’t Miss: How To Prepare For A Recruiter Position Interview
What To Expect When You Interview For A Job As A Front
Some organizations will have you take a programming test before you’re selected for an interview, so don’t be caught off-guard if you’re asked to complete one. You’ve got all the skills you need to succeed after taking online courses and practicing your development skills by building websites.
Other organizations will ask technical questions during the interview. Or, you may be asked to complete a short skills test or debugging exercise while you’re in the office for your technical interview.
During your interview, you’ll face two different kinds of questions technical and behavioral.
The Cultural Interview Or Initial Conversation
This interview will feel most like a conversation. It may happen near the start of the interview process, or later on, once your technical potential has been established. The interviewer is trying to answer a few basic questions about you:
- Would you work well inside the existing team?
- Are you a nice person? Are you likeable?
- Do you seem to be passionate about technology?
- Do you seem smart?
- Can you communicate?
The interviewer cant ask you these questions directly, so they will ask proxy questions to try to discover the answers about you. A few of the most common questions Ive encountered are:
- What kind of technologies are you excited to learn more about?
- Can you tell us about a cool project you completed recently?
- What is your favourite programming language?
All of these are proxy questions. In truth, the interviewer is trying to figure out whether you truly care about technology. As a Junior developer, the extent to which you are curious about and excited by technology is a good predictor of your rate of skill growth over time. Interviewers will, in general, be more concerned with where they can see you in a year or two than your skills right now.
Its important to come to a cultural interview with some ideas on how you would answer these questions. Be friendly, curious, and conversational. Do a little bit of research about the company before-hand, but also ask the interviewers questions to broaden your understanding.
Also Check: What Type Of Leader Are You Interview Question
Mock Interviews Are Priceless
It’s one thing to study on your computer and type out code in your favorite IDE. It’s a completely different experience to write out your code on paper with pencil or on a whiteboard with marker — without Google as a backup.
Gives new meaning to the idea of writing better code.
Don’t underestimate the importance of mock interviews. Set them up to simulate the interview environment as closely as you can: no computers, no phones or tablets, a sheet of paper, a pencil, and a timer for 30–60 minutes.
There are even online services that offer mock programming interviews for free. They aren’t perfect, of course, but they can be very useful if you need the person-to-person practice.
Practical Tips For Coding Questions
This section dives deep into practical tips for specific topics of algorithms and data structures, which appear frequently in coding questions. Many algorithm questions involve techniques that can be applied to questions of a similar nature.
The more techniques you have in your arsenal, the greater your chances of passing the interview. For each topic, there is also a list of recommended questions, which is valuable for mastering the core concepts. Some of the questions are only available with a paid subscription to LeetCode, which in my opinion is absolutely worth the money if it lands you a job.
Also Check: What To Wear To An Interview Women
Google Coding Interview Process: Unique Aspects
There are a few unique aspects of the Google coding interview process and their selection, this includes:
- You will perform all coding in Google Docs for remote sessions. Make sure you are practicing and can write code in this. For onsite interviews, Google will give you a Chromebook to use, or in some cases, it may just be a whiteboard.
- They have a hiring committee that will review your application. So it isnt always about the interviewer, but their recommendations are required.
- Google will grade you from 1-4 on all your interviews. If you dont get at least a 3, you wont pass the coding interview process.
- Google will review you as a person based on the Google hiring criteria, which is:
- Cognitive Ability
How you solve problems. If you are regurgitating learned information with no real understanding or ability to think outside the box, that is not ideal. Google wants to know you can come up with multiple solutions and implement the best one.
- Leadership
Can you take on a leadership role for specific projects? If you are a follower only, then Google may not want you. Instead, you should be discussing times you lead a project or team.
- Role-related knowledge
Google hires on a team basis. So you should have specific knowledge required for the team you are applying for. They also want to know you can grow as the team grows and evolves. So a track record of changes and continued learning is essential.
- Googleyness
Study Common Interview Concepts
A large percentage of interview questions feature data structures and algorithms. For better or worse, this is the truth. We gather question details from our candidates who interview at companies , and algorithm questions make up over 70% of the questions that are asked. You do not need to be an expert, but knowing the following list of algorithms and data structures will help at most companies.
- Hash tables
- Dynamic programming
- Big-O analysis
Depending on your background, this list may look trivial, or may look totally intimidating. Thatâs exactly the point. These are concepts that are far more common in interviews than they are in production web programming. If youâre self-taught or years out of school and these concepts are not familiar to you, you will do better in interviews if you study them. Even if you do know these things, refreshing your knowledge will help. A startlingly high percentage of interview questions reduce to breadth-first search or the use of a hash table to count uniques. You need to be able to write a BFS cold, and you need to understand how a hash table is implemented.
Studying algorithms and data structures helps not only because the material comes up in interviews, but also because the approach to problems taken in an algorithm course is the same approach that works best in interviews. Studying algorithms will get you in an interview mindset.
Don’t Miss: What To Answer During Job Interview
