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Software Engineer Interviews

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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

You are given 1000 containers of water with exactly one container containing poison. You can use pigs to test which container contains poison. The conditions are that: A pig drinking the poisoned water woudl die exactly after 1 hour and that a pig could be used for sampling multiple containers. Assume that the pig takes 0 time to drink water from any number of containers. What is the minimum number of pigs would you use to identify the poisoned container within 1 hour.
avatar

Software Development Engineer

Interviewed at Amazon

3.5★
Mar 16, 2011

You are given 1000 containers of water with exactly one container containing poison. You can use pigs to test which container contains poison. The conditions are that: A pig drinking the poisoned water woudl die exactly after 1 hour and that a pig could be used for sampling multiple containers. Assume that the pig takes 0 time to drink water from any number of containers. What is the minimum number of pigs would you use to identify the poisoned container within 1 hour.

Given a binary tree with only upwards (parent) node references, re-construct the tree adding in child references. You are given a list of leaf nodes (sorted in left to right order). Tricks include making sure to account for extremely unbalanced trees.
avatar

Software Engineer

Interviewed at Amazon

3.5★
Apr 27, 2011

Given a binary tree with only upwards (parent) node references, re-construct the tree adding in child references. You are given a list of leaf nodes (sorted in left to right order). Tricks include making sure to account for extremely unbalanced trees.

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