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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.

419,134 software engineer interview questions shared by candidates

You are given a dictionary, such as /usr/share/dict/words, containing a list of words, one per line. You are also given seven tiles. Each tile is either blank or contains a single lowercase letter (a-z). List all of the words from the dictionary that can be produced by using some or all of the seven tiles, in any order. A blank tile is a wildcard, and can be used in place of any letter. Try to use a minimal amount of memory. 1. Find all of the words that can be formed if you don't have to deal with blank tiles. (You may skip this step and go straight to step 2). 2. Find all of the words that can be formed, including those where blank tiles are used as wildcards. 3. Would you do things differently if you had to process several hundred tile sets with the same dictionary?
avatar

Software Engineer

Interviewed at VMware

4.4★
Oct 28, 2013

You are given a dictionary, such as /usr/share/dict/words, containing a list of words, one per line. You are also given seven tiles. Each tile is either blank or contains a single lowercase letter (a-z). List all of the words from the dictionary that can be produced by using some or all of the seven tiles, in any order. A blank tile is a wildcard, and can be used in place of any letter. Try to use a minimal amount of memory. 1. Find all of the words that can be formed if you don't have to deal with blank tiles. (You may skip this step and go straight to step 2). 2. Find all of the words that can be formed, including those where blank tiles are used as wildcards. 3. Would you do things differently if you had to process several hundred tile sets with the same dictionary?

You are given a number n, you have to find all prime numbers from 1 upto n and print them (or save them in an array). A varriation is (which changes the answer) is you are given two numbers m and n and you are to find all prime numbers between them.
avatar

Software Engineer

Interviewed at Arbisoft

4.1★
Jul 4, 2012

You are given a number n, you have to find all prime numbers from 1 upto n and print them (or save them in an array). A varriation is (which changes the answer) is you are given two numbers m and n and you are to find all prime numbers between them.

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