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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.

418,645 software engineer interview questions shared by candidates

Question was "Given a pattern and a string input - find if the string follows the same pattern and return 0 or 1. Examples: 1) Pattern : "abba", input: "redblueredblue" should return 1. 2) Pattern: "aaaa", input: "asdasdasdasd" should return 1. 3) Pattern: "aabb", input: "xyzabcxzyabc" should return 0.
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Software Engineer

Interviewed at Dropbox

3.9★
Oct 18, 2014

Question was "Given a pattern and a string input - find if the string follows the same pattern and return 0 or 1. Examples: 1) Pattern : "abba", input: "redblueredblue" should return 1. 2) Pattern: "aaaa", input: "asdasdasdasd" should return 1. 3) Pattern: "aabb", input: "xyzabcxzyabc" should return 0.

Given an input string S write a function which returns true if it satisfies S = nT. Basically you have to find if a given string can be represented from a substring by iterating it “n” times. n >= 2 An example would suffice – Function should return true if 1) S = “abab” 2) S = “abcdabcd” 3) S = “abcabcabc” 4) S = “zzxzzxzzx” Function should return false if 1) S = “abac” 2) S = “abcdabbd” 3) S = “abcabcefg” 4) S = “zzxzzyzzx” It would be easy to understand if you can give an algo instead of saying use kmp or suffix tree or… I came up with O(n*n) solution. Wondered how to do in O(n)
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Software Engineer

Interviewed at Google

4.4★
Mar 19, 2014

Given an input string S write a function which returns true if it satisfies S = nT. Basically you have to find if a given string can be represented from a substring by iterating it “n” times. n >= 2 An example would suffice – Function should return true if 1) S = “abab” 2) S = “abcdabcd” 3) S = “abcabcabc” 4) S = “zzxzzxzzx” Function should return false if 1) S = “abac” 2) S = “abcdabbd” 3) S = “abcabcefg” 4) S = “zzxzzyzzx” It would be easy to understand if you can give an algo instead of saying use kmp or suffix tree or… I came up with O(n*n) solution. Wondered how to do in O(n)

In front of you are three light switches. Only one does anything, and it turns on the light downstairs. From here you can't see the light, and it makes no sound. You must determine which switch operates the light, BUT you can only go check it once. How do you figure out which switch is for the light?
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Software Engineer

Interviewed at RTX

3.8★
Mar 12, 2010

In front of you are three light switches. Only one does anything, and it turns on the light downstairs. From here you can't see the light, and it makes no sound. You must determine which switch operates the light, BUT you can only go check it once. How do you figure out which switch is for the light?

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