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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.

418,713 software engineer interview questions shared by candidates

I was asked two questions. Q 1. You are given two version numbers of a software, like Version 10.3.4 and Version 10.3.41. Write a program to find out which of the version numbers are the latest. If version 1 is latest output -1, if version number 2 is latest output +1 else output 0 if same version. Both the version numbers are taken as string. He also asks to make the program of minimum time complexity as we can. At the end he also asked the difference between an iterative program and one with recurrence and their advantages and disadvantages. Q 2. Given two files with a list of application IDs (or some kind of data) stored in them , write a program to compare the data in the two files and output all the common data found in each. What data structure would you use and why ? Give a minimum time and space complexity algorithm. Why did you choose the particular data Structure or algorithm ?
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Software Development Engineer Intern

Interviewed at Amazon

3.5★
Feb 10, 2013

I was asked two questions. Q 1. You are given two version numbers of a software, like Version 10.3.4 and Version 10.3.41. Write a program to find out which of the version numbers are the latest. If version 1 is latest output -1, if version number 2 is latest output +1 else output 0 if same version. Both the version numbers are taken as string. He also asks to make the program of minimum time complexity as we can. At the end he also asked the difference between an iterative program and one with recurrence and their advantages and disadvantages. Q 2. Given two files with a list of application IDs (or some kind of data) stored in them , write a program to compare the data in the two files and output all the common data found in each. What data structure would you use and why ? Give a minimum time and space complexity algorithm. Why did you choose the particular data Structure or algorithm ?

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