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.

418,653 software engineer interview questions shared by candidates

You have 17 red and 17 blue balls, and you remove 2 at a time. If the two are the same colour, add in one extra blue ball. If they are different colours, add in an extra red ball. What colour is the final ball removed?
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Software Engineer

Interviewed at Geonomics

4.1
Jul 23, 2014

You have 17 red and 17 blue balls, and you remove 2 at a time. If the two are the same colour, add in one extra blue ball. If they are different colours, add in an extra red ball. What colour is the final ball removed?

Given an array of numbers, nums, return an array of numbers products, where products[i] is the product of all nums[j], j != i. Input : [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] Output: [(2*3*4*5), (1*3*4*5), (1*2*4*5), (1*2*3*5), (1*2*3*4)] = [120, 60, 40, 30, 24] You must do this in O(N) without using division.
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Software Development Engineer

Interviewed at Amazon

3.5
Sep 25, 2012

Given an array of numbers, nums, return an array of numbers products, where products[i] is the product of all nums[j], j != i. Input : [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] Output: [(2*3*4*5), (1*3*4*5), (1*2*4*5), (1*2*3*5), (1*2*3*4)] = [120, 60, 40, 30, 24] You must do this in O(N) without using division.

Find the first index of the substring. Condition: Do not use java library function or regular expressions. And measure the performance of your implementation with the standard java library function. Examples: String 1: “abcdefg” String 2: “bcd” Should return 1 String 1: “abcdefg” String 2: “x” Should return -1
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Software Engineer

Interviewed at Salesforce

4.1
May 2, 2012

Find the first index of the substring. Condition: Do not use java library function or regular expressions. And measure the performance of your implementation with the standard java library function. Examples: String 1: “abcdefg” String 2: “bcd” Should return 1 String 1: “abcdefg” String 2: “x” Should return -1

In a party of N people, only one person is known to everyone. Such a person may be present in the party, if yes, (s)he doesn’t know anyone in the party. We can only ask questions like “does A know B? “. Find the stranger (celebrity) in minimum number of questions.
avatar

Software Development Engineer

Interviewed at Amazon

3.5
Aug 3, 2016

In a party of N people, only one person is known to everyone. Such a person may be present in the party, if yes, (s)he doesn’t know anyone in the party. We can only ask questions like “does A know B? “. Find the stranger (celebrity) in minimum number of questions.

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