Software Engineer Interviews

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.

418,794 software engineer interview questions shared by candidates

Giving n numbers, and one number s, find out whether there are two numbers form the n numbers sums up to the number s. Finding one solution is extremely easy, but what's required is to find out ALL solutions to the problem and analyse the run times.
avatar

Software Engineer

Interviewed at Google

4.4
Apr 17, 2010

Giving n numbers, and one number s, find out whether there are two numbers form the n numbers sums up to the number s. Finding one solution is extremely easy, but what's required is to find out ALL solutions to the problem and analyse the run times.

You are a parking lot attendant in a lot that has one open spot, and you want to move the cars from their original positions into a new arrangement. Create a program that will print out instructions on how to move the cars most efficiently.
avatar

Software Engineer In Test

Interviewed at Google

4.4
Jan 15, 2010

You are a parking lot attendant in a lot that has one open spot, and you want to move the cars from their original positions into a new arrangement. Create a program that will print out instructions on how to move the cars most efficiently.

We're playing a game of Russian Roulette. I take 2 consecutive bullets out of the 6 bullet revolver and spin the chamber. I go first and shoot the bullet at my head, which misses. I then pass the gun to you, where you have the option of spinning the chamber, or shooting. Which would you do to maximize your probability of not dieing?
avatar

Software Engineer

Interviewed at Bloomberg

4
Nov 13, 2012

We're playing a game of Russian Roulette. I take 2 consecutive bullets out of the 6 bullet revolver and spin the chamber. I go first and shoot the bullet at my head, which misses. I then pass the gun to you, where you have the option of spinning the chamber, or shooting. Which would you do to maximize your probability of not dieing?

Say you use SVN for source control..you have several revisions of a file...R1, r2, r3..etc..Someone checked in a bug and the revision became bad..need t find the first bad revision..gave a function findBadRevision(int goodRevision, int badRevision) so for e.g the revisions were GGBB and function passes in 0,4 so the first bad revision is 2. There exists a function boolean hasBug(int revision) which will tell us if a certain revision has a bug. can assume good revision < bad revision
avatar

Software Engineer

Interviewed at Meta

3.6
Apr 28, 2012

Say you use SVN for source control..you have several revisions of a file...R1, r2, r3..etc..Someone checked in a bug and the revision became bad..need t find the first bad revision..gave a function findBadRevision(int goodRevision, int badRevision) so for e.g the revisions were GGBB and function passes in 0,4 so the first bad revision is 2. There exists a function boolean hasBug(int revision) which will tell us if a certain revision has a bug. can assume good revision < bad revision

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