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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

In the first round i am asked three questions 1. Eliminate the duplicate elements from a given linked list. 2. One question on Permutations and Combinations 3. Union find algorithm. In the second round Given a problem to design an algorithm for that. Some questions on OS(Memory Management, Scheduling) Some questions on C language
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Software Engineer

Interviewed at Salesforce

4★
Jan 22, 2016

In the first round i am asked three questions 1. Eliminate the duplicate elements from a given linked list. 2. One question on Permutations and Combinations 3. Union find algorithm. In the second round Given a problem to design an algorithm for that. Some questions on OS(Memory Management, Scheduling) Some questions on C language

The questions where very low level JAVA language questions. Questions like what is the Super class of all classes in JAVA. How does the class loader work. What are the different drivers in JDBC (he did want to know about JAVA JDBC Connectors so I do not know what he was referring to). The questions where mostly like this. Things that I never heard anyone else ask before on a JAVA interview.
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Software Engineer

Interviewed at Oracle

3.5★
Apr 4, 2014

The questions where very low level JAVA language questions. Questions like what is the Super class of all classes in JAVA. How does the class loader work. What are the different drivers in JDBC (he did want to know about JAVA JDBC Connectors so I do not know what he was referring to). The questions where mostly like this. Things that I never heard anyone else ask before on a JAVA interview.

One of the questions was asked by Ahmed Bashir, who (I later learned) was a Director level and the manager of the hiring manager. The question was as follows. You are given 25 horses. In each race only up to 5 horses can run and each race only reveals the ranking between the horses (i.e., we do not know the actual time). What is the minimum number of races you need to have in order to reveal the 3 fastest horses between the 25.
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Software Engineer

Interviewed at Apple

4.1★
Feb 3, 2019

One of the questions was asked by Ahmed Bashir, who (I later learned) was a Director level and the manager of the hiring manager. The question was as follows. You are given 25 horses. In each race only up to 5 horses can run and each race only reveals the ranking between the horses (i.e., we do not know the actual time). What is the minimum number of races you need to have in order to reveal the 3 fastest horses between the 25.

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