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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.

419,248 software engineer interview questions shared by candidates

1st question : 210 points. Write a program to simulate a keyboard with given keys and their operation. You need to print the final text to STDOUT. Type of Keys: Each key affects the movement of the cursor on editor. The cursor position is identified by row and column. alpha numeric space => this key inserts their respective symbol at cursors position and shift cursor. @ => [CAPS Lock] toggles caps lock, i.e., if CapsLock is 'ON' after this key press it will be 'OFF' and vice versa. Initially CAPS Lock in 'OFF'. # => [ENTER/New Line] inserts a new line character at cursor position and shift cursor position. < => [LEFT arrow] moves cursor to one step left (if available). If cursor is at the starting of the row, it moves to end of the row above (if available). > => [RIGHT arrow] moves cursor to one step right (if available). If cursor is at a row end it moves to starting of the row below (if available). / => [Backspace] deletes one character from the left of the cursor and move cursor one step left. It follows same direction rules as LEFT arrow key (<). ? => [Down arrow] If cursor is on last row nothing changes. The cursor moves to original column in next row if there are not enough characters in next row, cursor shifts to the end of the new row. Note: If key is pressed continuosly original column will not change with every key press. ^ => [UP arrow] If cursor is on first row nothing changes. The cursor moves to the original column (current) of the previous row, if there are not enough characters in previous row cursor shifts to the end of the previous row. Note: If key is pressed continuosly original column will not change with every key press. Example: Input: asdf#q#pqr^^23 Output: asd23f q pqr Input: One line of input characters (as defined above). Output: The formatted text. Example 1: Input asdf1# @qwe^23 Output asdf231 QWE Example 2: Input asdf1#@ qwe<<<//23 Output asdf123QWE Explanation: asdf1 prints asdf1 asdf1 # inserts new line character after asdf1 @ qwe switches caps lock from off to on and inserts QWE asdf1 QWE <<< shifts cursor position 3 position left // deletes 2 character (space and new line) from left of Q character asdf1QWE 23 inserts 23 from current cursor position asdf123QWE
avatar

Software Development Engineer

Interviewed at Smartprix

3.4★
Aug 20, 2017

1st question : 210 points. Write a program to simulate a keyboard with given keys and their operation. You need to print the final text to STDOUT. Type of Keys: Each key affects the movement of the cursor on editor. The cursor position is identified by row and column. alpha numeric space => this key inserts their respective symbol at cursors position and shift cursor. @ => [CAPS Lock] toggles caps lock, i.e., if CapsLock is 'ON' after this key press it will be 'OFF' and vice versa. Initially CAPS Lock in 'OFF'. # => [ENTER/New Line] inserts a new line character at cursor position and shift cursor position. < => [LEFT arrow] moves cursor to one step left (if available). If cursor is at the starting of the row, it moves to end of the row above (if available). > => [RIGHT arrow] moves cursor to one step right (if available). If cursor is at a row end it moves to starting of the row below (if available). / => [Backspace] deletes one character from the left of the cursor and move cursor one step left. It follows same direction rules as LEFT arrow key (<). ? => [Down arrow] If cursor is on last row nothing changes. The cursor moves to original column in next row if there are not enough characters in next row, cursor shifts to the end of the new row. Note: If key is pressed continuosly original column will not change with every key press. ^ => [UP arrow] If cursor is on first row nothing changes. The cursor moves to the original column (current) of the previous row, if there are not enough characters in previous row cursor shifts to the end of the previous row. Note: If key is pressed continuosly original column will not change with every key press. Example: Input: asdf#q#pqr^^23 Output: asd23f q pqr Input: One line of input characters (as defined above). Output: The formatted text. Example 1: Input asdf1# @qwe^23 Output asdf231 QWE Example 2: Input asdf1#@ qwe<<<//23 Output asdf123QWE Explanation: asdf1 prints asdf1 asdf1 # inserts new line character after asdf1 @ qwe switches caps lock from off to on and inserts QWE asdf1 QWE <<< shifts cursor position 3 position left // deletes 2 character (space and new line) from left of Q character asdf1QWE 23 inserts 23 from current cursor position asdf123QWE

1) Recursively find all FASTQ files in a directory and report each file name and the percent of sequences in that file that are greater than .. 2) Given a FASTA file with DNA sequences, find 10 most frequent sequences and return the sequence and their counts in the file.0 nt long. 3) Given coordinates and a chromosome, write a program for looking up it's annotation. Keep in mind you'll be doing this annotation millions of times. And so on.
avatar

Software Engineer

Interviewed at Enzymatics

3.7★
Aug 29, 2014

1) Recursively find all FASTQ files in a directory and report each file name and the percent of sequences in that file that are greater than .. 2) Given a FASTA file with DNA sequences, find 10 most frequent sequences and return the sequence and their counts in the file.0 nt long. 3) Given coordinates and a chromosome, write a program for looking up it's annotation. Keep in mind you'll be doing this annotation millions of times. And so on.

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