Programming Interview Questions

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By Vijay Singh Khatri

When it comes to getting a job in IT, one of the best ways to secure it is to learn computer programming. No matter in which field or program you have the expertise, you should have some fundamental knowledge of programming to solve issues without using API. There are tons of questions that you need to master to crack the interview.

But all in all, there is a particular set of questions that every interviewer will ask you, and we are here to discuss those important programming interview questions to help you prepare for your upcoming job interview.

Array Coding Interviews

This section will talk about all the important programming questions you should be prepared about related to arrays. An array is nothing but a collection of similar data stored in contiguous memory locations. It is considered the simplest data structure where a user gets access to each data element directly by only using the index number of the data.

Besides, when creating a longer or a shorter array, you need to create a new array and then copy all the elements from the old to the new one. The primary key behind solving the array programming questions is to have a good knowledge of data structure and hands-on experience with programming constructors like a loop, recursion, and even fundamental operators.

Below are some commonly asked questions related to arrays in programming interviews.

  1. How can you find a missing number in a given array filled with integer values that start from 1 to 100?
  2. When we take an integer array and fill it with duplicates, how will you find the number of duplicates present in it?
  3. Write a code to find the biggest and the smallest number in the integer array given to you?
  4. Write a code to find the duplicate numbers in a given array if the array contains multiple duplicates.
  5. How will you remove duplicates that are present in arrays using Java programming?
  6. Use the quicksort algorithm to sort the array and put integers in ascending order.
  7. How to reverse an array using Java programming?
  8. How can you remove duplicates from an array without even using any of the libraries present in the programming language you will use?
  9. Find out the common elements present in the given three integer arrays using any of the programming languages you are an expert in?
  10. From the given array, find out the factorial of the largest integer using Java.

You can easily find answers to these questions on the Internet. Try to answer them yourself first and then look for the answers on the Internet.

Linked List Programming Interview Questions

Now let’s move on to the second list of interview questions as common as the array questions, but these are a bit complex compared to the previous ones. Before we proceed further, we want to give our readers some background knowledge about the linked list and why it is essential for programming. A linked list is considered a list of nodes in which each node has its value stored, and the address of the next node is also present in the current node that you have.

Because of this, it becomes easier to add and remove an element from the linked list, as you just have to make a change in the linked list instead of creating a whole new array. But, this also increases the difficulty of searching for a specific element in the linked list. The typical time required to find a number in a linked list is O(n), where n is the number of elements present in a singly linked list. A singly linked list is the one that allows users to traverse in only one direction, which is forward to backward. A doubly linked list is the set of elements that can be traversed from front to back and back to front. Last is the circular linked list, which is present in a circle.

As a result, you need to know recursion when solving linked list-related programming questions because every linked list is a recursive data structure. Given below, we have compiled some of the frequently asked interview questions related to the linked list.

  1. Create a random integer linked list and then print out the integer present in the middle of the linked list.
  2. What do you understand about the concept called flattering a linked list? Create a program to show it with a live example?
  3. Find out the integer which is present in the middle of the linked list and then replace that integer with the input.
  4. Reverse out the linked list in a group of inputs suggested by the user of a given size.
  5. Create a linked list first and then find out the loop which is present in it. If detected, remove the loop from the linked list and create a singly linked list.
  6. Delete the second node after deleting the fifth node present in the linked list. Also, print out the linked list which is formed after the deletion of these two nodes.
  7. Why do we prefer using quicksort to sort out the array values and merge-sort when we have a linked list to sort?
  8. How to create a linked list in a Java program?
  9. How will you be able to present the linked list in the form of a graphical view?
  10. How many pointers will you need to create a simple linked list?

Interview Questions for String

Let’s move to our next category, which is strings. A string is nothing but a data type that is used in almost every programming language. A string could be an integer, or it could be a floating-point unit. But commonly, it is used to showcase the text rather than numbers. It has a set of characters that also comes with their own spaces and numbers.

For example, “I love eating burgers”, “burgers”, and “25 burgers” all of these are considered to be strings if we specify them correctly. Typically, when working with a string, it is better to enclose the strings in quotation marks so that the data can be easily recognized as a string and just as a number.

When you declare a variable to become a string, it can lead to storage in memory to be statically allocated for a predetermined maximum length. Or it can use the dynamic allocation, which makes it possible to hold a variable number of the present element. On the other hand, when a string directly appears in the source code of the program, then it is known as a string literal.

One of the best things about using string is that once you are familiar with solving array programming questions, it becomes easier for you to solve string-based problems. Because in the end, strings are nothing but a character array. As a result, everything that you learned while solving array-based questions can be used here to solve string programming questions. Below, we have written some of the crucial questions that give you a better idea of strings. Practice the questions to get confident about using strings.

  1. Create a string and then find out the maximum occurring character from it. Also, remove the duplicates so that the occurrence of the characters will just be once in the whole string.
  2. How do you remove the characters of the first string, which are also part of the second string? Display the first string after performing the first step.
  3. How will you be able to find out that two strings are in the rotations of each other?
  4. Input a string and then reverse it without using the recursion method.
  5. Print out all the permutations of an input string.
  6. How will you be able to reverse the words which are present in a string sentence?
  7. What do you understand by multiplying two strings, performing the multiplication, and then storing the output in the third string?
  8. Create a Palindrome using strings.
  9. Create a substring from a given string without adding any repetitive characters.
  10. Find out the 6th character present in the given string, “I love eating Apples”.

Binary Tree Programming Interview Question

When you start working as a programmer, you will understand that you will be using binary trees to solve a problem more often. You will be having more usage of binary trees because of the complexity which is thrown by N-ary trees. The N-ary trees are pretty complex in nature, and then again, they have no added benefit of speed or anything like that. A binary tree is a tree-shaped data structure in which each of the nodes present has two children at most. These two children are called the left-child and the right-child. The topmost node which is present in the binary tree is called the root node.

The typical operations you should learn while working on Binary trees are insertion, deletion, and tree traversal. One of the main things you need to keep in the back of your head is to have a solid theoretical knowledge of the programming knowledge you will be using. For example, you should be so sound in working with binary trees that you can easily imagine the binary tree’s size from the question you are about to solve. In addition to this, you must know what a lead is and which one is a node. Given below is the list of some essential programming questions which helps you in understanding the concept of binary tree in detail. These questions will prepare you for the upcoming programming interview question.

  1. How will you be able to implement the search in a binary tree program?
  2. Let’s suppose you have a binary tree, then; how will you be able to perform a preorder traversal in it and display its results?
  3. Find out the ancestors who are present in the given binary trees.
  4. Create a binary tree using a preorder traversal.
  5. Find out the maximum sum of non-adjacent nodes which are present in the binary tree?
  6. Connect the nodes that are present at the same level of a binary tree.
  7. Create a doubly linked list and display the result while using the binary tree as the input.
  8. Find out the number of turns present in a single binary tree?
  9. Create a program that displays out the odd-even level difference
  10. What do you understand about the body traversal of a binary tree? Write a code and show the body traversal of a binary tree of your choice.

Miscellaneous Programming Interview Questions

Well, if you can create a program for these 30 questions above, then we are sure you are ready to make any program that the interviewer is going to throw at you. But you should not be overconfident. As a result, in this section of the article, we are going to show you another miscellaneous 20 questions which test out your programming and problem-solving ability. Get these done, and you are one step ahead of the others in cracking the toughest of the programming interview questions.

It is pretty apparent that to get these questions right, you need to have a proper understanding of programming concepts. Having your head spin around these problems is a great way to exercise your problem-solving capabilities. Once you are done with these questions, you will have enough knowledge and confidence to crack the interview, and to land the job that you wanted for so long.

  1. When you implement the bubble sort in a program, how does it work? Explain with a working example.
  2. How will you be able to implement an insertion sort algorithm when writing a code?
  3. Give some examples of low-level programming languages.
  4. What is the need for an identifier in programming?
  5. Why do we have a do-while loop when there is already a while loop present?
  6. What is the difference between a stable and unstable sorting algorithm?
  7. Provide three differences between arrays and linked lists. Also, which one do you consider to have a benefit over the other?
  8. What do you understand by binary search, and what is the best scenario for using the binary search?
  9. How can you refer to all the elements which are present in a one-dimensional array?
  10. What is the difference between a linear and a non-linear data structure?
  11. Find out the largest and the smallest number which is present in the two unsorted arrays?
  12. Create a program that finds out if the given sentence is a Palindrome in nature or not?
  13. How to find out the sum of two linked lists without even using a stack?
  14. Create a code in which you swap the numbers in a given array without even using the third value?
  15. Create a program that works like a vending machine
  16. Find out a method to check if the given number is positive or negative?
  17. Create a program in which you can add or subtract matrices.
  18. Make a program that reverses the input integer using Java.
  19. Find out if the given number is a prime number using Java.
  20. Write a program that states algorithm for inorder traversal.

How to Prepare for a Programming Interview?

When it comes to being an engineer, one of the most overwhelming things is to crack an interview and get a job. So we thought about throwing in a piece of advice for those students who are going in for the interview for the very first time. Given below is the list of things you will need to prepare yourself for the programming interview and probably crack it out as well.

Build the High Earning Skill

First of all, you need to work on your skills. For this, you need to regularly start on writing code and get into code challenges. It is a much better way to prepare for coding rounds than trying to cram up a bunch of theories before stepping into the interview room. With time and practice, you will get better at solving the problems and will find the logic behind the problem in a much shorter time.

Keep the Soft Skills Intact

Well, if you have mastered the coding language, then you have already won half the battle. But the other half depends on how you speak and present yourself to the people interviewing you. Even if it’s a technical round, the ability to speak with confidence and politeness goes a long way in securing a job. The soft skills will help you in communicating with your colleagues, the people with whom you are going to work on various projects. Soft skills are often overlooked by candidates. But in most cases, these are the ones that can make or break your interview.

Try to Find Multiple Solutions

To be knowledgeable about how to solve a problem is one thing, but to be able to provide the interviewer with different methods to solve a single problem shows how well you are versed in problem-solving. As an interviewer, the person is looking for a candidate who can provide answers to the problem in the simplest of ways possible as it gives them more time to talk to candidates about other questions that they might want to ask.

Conclusion

We hope this article has helped you in learning some of the essential questions that you need to crack for your programming interview. Keep on churning your mind to solve these answers at a much faster speed and with efficiency. Because in the end, the code which is more efficient than others will pass the test and land you the job. Best of luck with your upcoming interviews, and we wish you tons of success in your professional career ahead.

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