Skip to contentSkip to footer

Software Engineer Interviews

Salaries
Interviews

Software Engineer Interview Questions

Software engineers write programs to design and develop computer software. Interviews are highly technical, so come ready to work through coding problems and math brainteasers. The specific questions you are asked will depend on what type of programming position you are looking for. Try researching a specific software discipline such as web development, application development, or system development.

Top Software Engineer Interview Questions & How to Answer

Question 1

Question #1: How would you describe your programming task process?

How to answer
How to answer: When answering a question about your process or life cycle for software development and engineering, it's helpful to consider every step, beginning with obtaining the requirements for the end product. Include as much detail as possible to help the interviewer learn more about any work you've done as a software engineer and how you handle a task to show your ability to tackle a project from start to finish.
Question 2

Question #2: Which programming languages do you know and prefer?

How to answer
How to answer: An interviewer will want to know what programming languages you're familiar with, as well as which languages you prefer. This question doesn't necessarily have a right or wrong answer, but it does provide insights into your capabilities and coding expertise. If the job listing for which you are interviewing includes specific language knowledge preferences, make sure to include them when outlining the software languages you know.
Question 3

Question 3: What is an example of a successful project that you completed?

How to answer
How to answer: When describing your success with a past project, it's helpful to identify aspects of the project that went well and detail the different task list elements. You can describe the team with whom you worked on the project, how you managed your time, and how you specifically contributed to the project.

418,653 software engineer interview questions shared by candidates

The questions were not very difficult but you really need to have all the concepts crystal-clear and be ready to apply them successfully. One of the questions was "how to count the letters in this string:" "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog";
avatar

Software Development Engineer

Interviewed at Google

4.4★
Apr 25, 2013

The questions were not very difficult but you really need to have all the concepts crystal-clear and be ready to apply them successfully. One of the questions was "how to count the letters in this string:" "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog";

Phone interview question: Given a string pattern of 0s, 1s, and ?s (wildcards), generate all 0-1 strings that match this pattern. e.g. 1?00?101 -> [10000101, 10001101, 11000101, 11001101]. You can generate the strings in any order that suits you.
avatar

Software Engineer

Interviewed at Google

4.4★
Aug 1, 2013

Phone interview question: Given a string pattern of 0s, 1s, and ?s (wildcards), generate all 0-1 strings that match this pattern. e.g. 1?00?101 -> [10000101, 10001101, 11000101, 11001101]. You can generate the strings in any order that suits you.

If you had a list of appointments (each appointment has a begin time, an end time, and a boolean hasConflict), how would you efficiently go through them and set the hasConflict boolean for each. You cannot assume they are sorted in any way. Keep in mind that one appointment may be very long, etc.
avatar

Software Engineer

Interviewed at Google

4.4★
Nov 3, 2010

If you had a list of appointments (each appointment has a begin time, an end time, and a boolean hasConflict), how would you efficiently go through them and set the hasConflict boolean for each. You cannot assume they are sorted in any way. Keep in mind that one appointment may be very long, etc.

Given an array with length n-1 which contains integers of the range 1 to n. Each element is distinct and appears only once. One integer is missing. Find the missing integer in linear time using O(1) memory. Now two integers are missing, find them out in linear time using O(1) memory. How about three?
avatar

Software Development Engineer

Interviewed at Microsoft

4★
Jul 10, 2009

Given an array with length n-1 which contains integers of the range 1 to n. Each element is distinct and appears only once. One integer is missing. Find the missing integer in linear time using O(1) memory. Now two integers are missing, find them out in linear time using O(1) memory. How about three?

Consider an X x Y array of 1's and 0s. The X axis represents "influences" meaning that X influences Y. So, for example, if $array[3,7] is 1 that means that 3 influences 7. An "influencer" is someone who influences every other person, but is not influenced by any other member. Given such an array, write a function to determine whether or not an "influencer" exists in the array.
avatar

Senior Software Engineer

Interviewed at LinkedIn

3.8★
Aug 1, 2013

Consider an X x Y array of 1's and 0s. The X axis represents "influences" meaning that X influences Y. So, for example, if $array[3,7] is 1 that means that 3 influences 7. An "influencer" is someone who influences every other person, but is not influenced by any other member. Given such an array, write a function to determine whether or not an "influencer" exists in the array.

Viewing 101 - 110 interview questions

Glassdoor has 418,653 interview questions and reports from Software engineer interviews. Prepare for your interview. Get hired. Love your job.