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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.

419,495 software engineer interview questions shared by candidates

Expectation for coding Questions: Must be sort of analytical questions testing knowledge of DS/Algos and problem-solving skills, that could be done in 65-70 minutes. Reality: Problem Solving tricky questions, I would say they are not really checking candidate's Data Structures knowledge. Standard DS/Algos can be used to come up with the sol, but again coming up with the optimised sol. is the challenging part, I feel. I though it could only be done in the given time frame with most optimised approach, only if candidate had gone through that kind of question in the past. Brute Force or Semi-optimised approach can be thought of, but coming up with most optimised approach in the given time frame, needs some serious practice and some luck too😅. According to me, either questions' difficulty level should be reduced or time can be increased.
avatar

Software Engineer II

Interviewed at Tower Research Capital

4.1★
Sep 27, 2021

Expectation for coding Questions: Must be sort of analytical questions testing knowledge of DS/Algos and problem-solving skills, that could be done in 65-70 minutes. Reality: Problem Solving tricky questions, I would say they are not really checking candidate's Data Structures knowledge. Standard DS/Algos can be used to come up with the sol, but again coming up with the optimised sol. is the challenging part, I feel. I though it could only be done in the given time frame with most optimised approach, only if candidate had gone through that kind of question in the past. Brute Force or Semi-optimised approach can be thought of, but coming up with most optimised approach in the given time frame, needs some serious practice and some luck too😅. According to me, either questions' difficulty level should be reduced or time can be increased.

write an algorithm to determine is "happy" ... a number is happy if the sum of the square of the digits ever equals one. An example of a happy number is 19: 1^2 + 9^2 = 82 8^2 + 2^2 = 68 6^2 + 8^2 = 100 1^2 + 0^2 + 0^2 = 1 If it is not happy then it will eventually hit repeat back to a number that it already saw
avatar

Software Engineer I

Interviewed at CareerBuilder

3.6★
Feb 12, 2015

write an algorithm to determine is "happy" ... a number is happy if the sum of the square of the digits ever equals one. An example of a happy number is 19: 1^2 + 9^2 = 82 8^2 + 2^2 = 68 6^2 + 8^2 = 100 1^2 + 0^2 + 0^2 = 1 If it is not happy then it will eventually hit repeat back to a number that it already saw

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