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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.

419,816 software engineer interview questions shared by candidates

Given an N x M matrix A of non-negative integers representing the height of each unit cell in a continent, the "Blue lake" touches the left and top edges of the matrix and the "Red lake" touches the right and bottom edges. Water can only flow in four directions (up, down, left, or right) from a cell to another one with height equal or lower. Find the number of cells from where water can flow to both the Blue and Red lake.
avatar

Software Engineer

Interviewed at Google

4.4★
Aug 9, 2021

Given an N x M matrix A of non-negative integers representing the height of each unit cell in a continent, the "Blue lake" touches the left and top edges of the matrix and the "Red lake" touches the right and bottom edges. Water can only flow in four directions (up, down, left, or right) from a cell to another one with height equal or lower. Find the number of cells from where water can flow to both the Blue and Red lake.

Write a function that given an array of numbers, return the highest occurrence of a number. Say 6 showed up the most (8 times) return 8. I over thought the question. This is in C and I'm guessing they just wanted a me to allocate a full array (256 for 8 bit) and +1 an entry whenever that number occurs (histo[number]++) while keeping the highest occurrence in a return variable if (histo[number] > highest) highest++;. I thought the solution was way too simple (like 6 lines tops) so I thought of a solution that would work for very large numbers for which a full array couldn't be allocated (64 bit = 2^64 array for instance). It wasn't as memory and computationally efficient as allocating a full array for lower bit number ranges (8, 16, 32) but it was a more robust and complete solution. Anyways, I guess he didn't see it that way. They turned me down. 8( So warning.. don't overthink a question on the phone interview. They're more likely to just want the 6 line quick answer on the phone interview. I think the phone interview is purely to weed out the complete idiots. If you overthink what they think is an easy problem then you look like a complete idiot. Onsite is be more challenging. I did the onsite a few years ago and the solutions and implementation required some thought.
avatar

Software Engineer

Interviewed at Google

4.4★
Nov 10, 2016

Write a function that given an array of numbers, return the highest occurrence of a number. Say 6 showed up the most (8 times) return 8. I over thought the question. This is in C and I'm guessing they just wanted a me to allocate a full array (256 for 8 bit) and +1 an entry whenever that number occurs (histo[number]++) while keeping the highest occurrence in a return variable if (histo[number] > highest) highest++;. I thought the solution was way too simple (like 6 lines tops) so I thought of a solution that would work for very large numbers for which a full array couldn't be allocated (64 bit = 2^64 array for instance). It wasn't as memory and computationally efficient as allocating a full array for lower bit number ranges (8, 16, 32) but it was a more robust and complete solution. Anyways, I guess he didn't see it that way. They turned me down. 8( So warning.. don't overthink a question on the phone interview. They're more likely to just want the 6 line quick answer on the phone interview. I think the phone interview is purely to weed out the complete idiots. If you overthink what they think is an easy problem then you look like a complete idiot. Onsite is be more challenging. I did the onsite a few years ago and the solutions and implementation required some thought.

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