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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.

419,183 software engineer interview questions shared by candidates

Generate a new array from an array of numbers. Start from the beginning. Put the number of some number first, and then that number. For example, from array 1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 1 You should get 2, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 1, 1 Write a program to solve this problem.
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Software Engineer Intern

Interviewed at Meta

3.5★
Sep 21, 2011

Generate a new array from an array of numbers. Start from the beginning. Put the number of some number first, and then that number. For example, from array 1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 1 You should get 2, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 1, 1 Write a program to solve this problem.

Nothing unexpected, I solved all the problems but I think I was too slow on the first one, which goes like: Given an array of numbers, they are arranged so that the a[0] is in the 1st bucket, a[1]a[2] are in the 2nd bucket, a[3]a[4]a[5] is in the 3rd bucket and so on. The question is then: given a number, you need to return if it is in any bucket or not.
avatar

Software Engineer

Interviewed at Meta

3.5★
Dec 6, 2013

Nothing unexpected, I solved all the problems but I think I was too slow on the first one, which goes like: Given an array of numbers, they are arranged so that the a[0] is in the 1st bucket, a[1]a[2] are in the 2nd bucket, a[3]a[4]a[5] is in the 3rd bucket and so on. The question is then: given a number, you need to return if it is in any bucket or not.

* You have a data structure of integers, which can be negative, zero, or positive, and you need to support an API with two public methods, insert(int) and getmedian(). Describe a data structure you would use to support this API and describe the running time of the two methods. * Imagine you're writing a function that takes an array of integers and an integer and it needs to return true if any pair in the array sum to the 2nd argument. The array can have negative numbers, zero, or positive numbers. Describe how you would design this function and what its running time would be. I ran through the trivial n^2 solution, then modified it to an nlogn and finally to a linear solution.
avatar

Software Engineer

Interviewed at Google

4.4★
Nov 7, 2009

* You have a data structure of integers, which can be negative, zero, or positive, and you need to support an API with two public methods, insert(int) and getmedian(). Describe a data structure you would use to support this API and describe the running time of the two methods. * Imagine you're writing a function that takes an array of integers and an integer and it needs to return true if any pair in the array sum to the 2nd argument. The array can have negative numbers, zero, or positive numbers. Describe how you would design this function and what its running time would be. I ran through the trivial n^2 solution, then modified it to an nlogn and finally to a linear solution.

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