Programming questions are an integral part of an interview for the developers position. There is no matter what programming language you know how to use; you are always expected to know the basics of programming.
Coding skills are always the deciding factor in any programming interview. Find out the 40 most important coding interview questions you need to know in this article. They will help you ace your interviews and land your dream job.
This article breaks down the coding interview questions it talks about into two groups (shown below) to make learning easier.
Programming engineer interviews are notorious for being difficult. You’ll probably be asked hard technical questions, be asked to code answers on a whiteboard, and be put under a lot of pressure to show how well you can solve problems. But if you prepare well, you can do great in the programming interview and get your dream job. You can find the most common interview questions for a programming engineer in this complete guide. It also gives you advice on how to answer them with confidence.
Why Programming Engineering?
Interviewers often start off with broad questions to understand your motivations. Be ready to explain why you’re pursuing a programming engineering role. Some common questions include:
- What do you enjoy about programming?
- Are you comfortable working with a team of programmers to complete coding projects?
- What is the first programming language that you learned?
- Based on your experiences, what’s the hardest thing about working as a computer programmer?
When answering these questions, emphasize your passion for coding and problem solving. Discuss specific projects you’ve worked on, the programming languages you excel in, and how you enjoy collaborating with team members and learning from senior developers. Convey your enthusiasm and dedication to the field.
Technical Questions
The meat of the programming interview will be the technical questions. These test how much you know about basic computer science, data structures, algorithms, and how to code. Here are some of the most common technical questions to prepare for:
Data Structures
- Explain how hash tables work and their use cases.
- What is the difference between arrays and linked lists? When would you use each?
- Describe stacks and queues data structures.
- Compare and contrast trees and graphs.
- Implement common operations like search, insert, and delete on binary search trees.
Focus on being able to clearly explain core data structures like arrays, linked lists, stacks, queues, trees, graphs, and hash tables. Understand their key attributes, use cases, and how to implement them in code.
Algorithms
- Explain sorting algorithms like quicksort, mergesort, and heapsort. Analyze their time and space complexities.
- Implement searching algorithms like linear search and binary search. Compare their efficiencies.
- Explain Dijkstra’s algorithm for finding shortest path. Write out pseudocode.
- Code solutions for problems like FizzBuzz, finding palindromes, and detecting duplicate characters in a string.
Practice implementing foundational algorithms like sorting, searching, and graph algorithms Analyze their efficiencies using Big O notation and be ready to walk through your code
Coding
- Reverse a string iteratively and recursively in your language of choice.
- Check if a linked list has a cycle.
- Design a parking lot or elevator system.
- Optimize code by refactoring.
- Debug faulty code samples.
Brush up on programming in your strongest language. Study its key libraries and be able to manipulate strings, arrays, linked lists, trees, and graphs. Expect to code on paper or on a whiteboard, so practice explaining your approach and writing clean, organized code.
System Design
- Design a URL shortening service like Bitly.
- Explain how you would design Netflix or Facebook’s video streaming architecture.
- Design a scalable web crawler.
- Build an API rate limiter.
System design questions test your ability to design complex, scalable systems. Study techniques like load balancing, caching, databases, notifications and messaging. Analyze tradeoffs and be ready to discuss your design decisions.
Non-Technical Questions
Programming interviews won’t be 100% technical. You’ll also face behavioral and situational questions that assess your soft skills and cultural fit:
- Tell me about a challenging coding problem you faced and how you solved it.
- Describe a time you disagreed with your manager. How did you handle it?
- What do you do when you get stuck on a coding problem?
- How do you prioritize tasks when working on multiple projects with close deadlines?
- Why do you want to work at our company?
Rehearse stories of when you solved tough technical problems dealt with conflicts learned new skills, or went above and beyond. Convey key soft skills like communication, collaboration, and leadership. Research the company’s mission and values and connect them to your own motivations.
7 Tips to Ace the Programming Interview
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Practice explaining core computer science concepts out loud until you can describe them clearly and concisely. Verbalizing your knowledge will be key.
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Brush up on data structures and algorithms. Review key attributes, implementations, efficiencies, and use cases.
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Hone your coding skills in your chosen language. Become proficient with key data structures, strings, arrays, linked lists, etc.
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Master writing organized code on paper and whiteboards. Visualize solutions and walk through your code.
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Analyze your experience and prepare stories that convey relevant skills and achievements.
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Research the company so you understand their mission and can express interest in the role.
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Practice mock interviews until you feel confident answering questions smoothly and professionally.
With diligent practice and technical review, you’ll be ready to impress interviewers and launch your programming engineering career. Keep these tips in mind, and you’ll soon be writing code at your dream job!
Coding Interview Questions On Conceptual Understanding
This section covers some coding interview questions that test the conceptual understanding of the candidate.
3 Showcase Inheritance with the help of a program?
- The property color comes from the class Animal to the class Cat because the Cat class extends the Animal class.
- Cat can have more than one parent class if it wants to take their properties.
    String color;
class Cat extends Animal {
    void meow() {
        System.out.println(“Meow”);
    }
SOFTWARE ENGINEER Interview Questions & TOP SCORING ANSWERS!
FAQ
What type of questions are asked in a software engineering interview?
What kind of coding questions are asked in an interview?
What to expect in a 1 hour coding interview?
What questions are asked in a software engineer interview?
We’ve got the answers to your most frequently asked questions. What Questions Will Be Asked in a Software Engineer Interview? Three main types of questions come up in software engineering interviews: conceptual/technical questions, culture/behavioral interview questions, and coding skills tests.
What coding questions should a programmer ask during a technical interview?
The following is a list of the types of coding questions a programmer might encounter during a technical interview. Algorithm questions are foundational to the technical interview. They test a candidate’s coding skills and ability to solve problems with algorithms in a programming language of their choice. Sample Question: The Efficient Janitor
How many programming interview questions are there?
In this article, we list 47 programming interview questions and provide some example answers for you to study. Review 40 programming interview questions that a hiring manager may ask you when you’re interviewing for a computer programmer position. Explore eight programming questions that relate to strings or character sequences:
What questions should an interviewer ask a programming candidate?
An interviewer may ask a programming candidate this question to assess their knowledge of array programming and its fundamental concepts. They might also ask this question to assess a candidate’s analytical thinking and problem-solving skills and use your response as a basis to move into more in-depth questions about duplicating arrays.
