School of Computing and Information Technology

JAVA - Placement Interview Questions

1. Why is Java a platform independent language?

Java language was developed in such a way that it does not depend on any
hardware or software due to the fact that the compiler compiles the code and then
converts it to platform-independent byte code which can be run on multiple
systems.

 The only condition to run that byte code is for the machine to have a runtime
environment (JRE) installed in it

2. Why is Java not a pure object oriented language?

Java supports primitive data types - byte, boolean, char, short, int, float, long, and
double and hence it is not a pure object oriented language.

3. Difference between Heap and Stack Memory in java. And how java
utilizes this.

Stack memory is the portion of memory that was assigned to every individual
program. And it was fixed. On the other hand, Heap memory is the portion that was
not allocated to the java program but it will be available for use by the java
program when it is required, mostly during the runtime of the program.

Java Utilizes this memory as -

 When we write a java program then all the variables, methods, etc are stored in the
stack memory.
 And when we create any object in the java program then that object was created in
the heap memory. And it was referenced from the stack memory.

Example- Consider the below java program:

class Main {
public void printArray(int[] array){
for(int i : array)
System.out.println(i);
}
public static void main(String args[]) {
int[] array = new int[10];
printArray(array);
 }
}

For this java program. The stack and heap memory occupied by java is -

Main and PrintArray is the method that will be available in the stack area and as
well as the variables declared that will also be in the stack area.

And the Object (Integer Array of size 10) we have created, will be available in the
Heap area because that space will be allocated to the program during runtime.

4. Can java be said to be the complete object-oriented programming

language?

It is not wrong if we claim that java is the complete object-oriented programming

language. Because Everything in Java is under the classes. And we can access that
by creating the objects.

But also if we say that java is not a completely object-oriented programming

language because it has the support of primitive data types like int, float, char,
boolean, double, etc.

Now for the question: Is java a completely object-oriented programming

language? We can say that - Java is not a pure object-oriented programming
language, because it has direct access to primitive data types. And these primitive
data types don't directly belong to the Integer classes.

5. How is Java different from C++?

 C++ is only a compiled language, whereas Java is compiled as well as an

interpreted language.
 Java programs are machine-independent whereas a c++ program can run only in
the machine in which it is compiled.
 C++ allows users to use pointers in the program. Whereas java doesn’t allow it. Java
internally uses pointers.
 C++ supports the concept of Multiple inheritances whereas Java doesn't support
this. And it is due to avoiding the complexity of name ambiguity that causes the
diamond problem.
6. Pointers are used in C/ C++. Why does Java not make use of
pointers?

Pointers are quite complicated and unsafe to use by beginner programmers. Java
focuses on code simplicity, and the usage of pointers can make it challenging.
Pointer utilization can also cause potential errors. Moreover, security is also
compromised if pointers are used because the users can directly access memory
with the help of pointers.

Thus, a certain level of abstraction is furnished by not including pointers in Java.

Moreover, the usage of pointers can make the procedure of garbage collection
quite slow and erroneous. Java makes use of references as these cannot be
manipulated, unlike pointers.

7. What do you understand by an instance variable and a local

variable?

Instance variables are those variables that are accessible by all the methods in the
class. They are declared outside the methods and inside the class. These variables
describe the properties of an object and remain bound to it at any cost.

All the objects of the class will have their copy of the variables for utilization. If any
modification is done on these variables, then only that instance will be impacted by
it, and all other class instances continue to remain unaffected.

Example:

class Athlete {
public String athleteName;
public double athleteSpeed;
public int athleteAge;
}

Local variables are those variables present within a block, function, or constructor
and can be accessed only inside them. The utilization of the variable is restricted to
the block scope. Whenever a local variable is declared inside a method, the other
class methods don’t have any knowledge about the local variable.

Example:

public void athlete() {

String athleteName;
double athleteSpeed;
int athleteAge;
}
8. What are the default values assigned to variables and instances in
java?

 There are no default values assigned to the variables in java. We need to initialize
the value before using it. Otherwise, it will throw a compilation error of (Variable
might not be initialized).
 But for instance, if we create the object, then the default value will be initialized by
the default constructor depending on the data type.
 If it is a reference, then it will be assigned to null.
 If it is numeric, then it will assign to 0.
 If it is a boolean, then it will be assigned to false. Etc.

9. What do you mean by data encapsulation?

 Data Encapsulation is an Object-Oriented Programming concept of hiding the data

attributes and their behaviours in a single unit.
 It helps developers to follow modularity while developing software by ensuring that
each object is independent of other objects by having its own methods, attributes,
and functionalities.
 It is used for the security of the private properties of an object and hence serves the
purpose of data hiding.

10. Tell us something about JIT compiler.

 JIT stands for Just-In-Time and it is used for improving the performance during run
time. It does the task of compiling parts of byte code having similar functionality at
the same time thereby reducing the amount of compilation time for the code to
run.
 The compiler is nothing but a translator of source code to machine-executable
code. But what is special about the JIT compiler? Let us see how it works:
o First, the Java source code (.java) conversion to byte code (.class) occurs with
the help of the javac compiler.
o Then, the .class files are loaded at run time by JVM and with the help of an
interpreter, these are converted to machine understandable code.
o JIT compiler is a part of JVM. When the JIT compiler is enabled, the JVM
analyzes the method calls in the .class files and compiles them to get more
efficient and native code. It also ensures that the prioritized method calls are
optimized.
o Once the above step is done, the JVM executes the optimized code directly
instead of interpreting the code again. This increases the performance and
speed of the execution.
11. Can you tell the difference between equals() method and equality
operator (==) in Java?

We are already aware of the (==) equals operator. That we have used this to
compare the equality of the values. But when we talk about the terms of object-
oriented programming, we deal with the values in the form of objects. And this
object may contain multiple types of data. So using the (==) operator does not
work with this case. So we need to go with the .equals() method.

Both [(==) and .euqals()] primary functionalities are to compare the values, but
the secondary functionality is different.

So in order to understand this better, let’s consider this with the example -

String str1 = "InterviewBit";

String str2 = "InterviewBit";

System.out.println(str1 == str2);

This code will print true. We know that both strings are equals so it will print true.
But here (==) Operators don’t compare each character in this case. It compares
the memory location. And because the string uses the constant pool for storing the
values in the memory, both str1 and str2 are stored at the same memory location.
See the detailed Explanation in Question no 73: Link.

Now, if we modify the program a little bit with -

String str1 = new String("InterviewBit");

String str2 = "InterviewBit";

System.out.println(str1 == str2);

Then in this case, it will print false. Because here no longer the constant pool
concepts are used. Here, new memory is allocated. So here the memory address is
different, therefore ( == ) Operator returns false. But the twist is that the values are
the same in both strings. So how to compare the values? Here the .equals() method
is used.

.equals() method compares the values and returns the result accordingly. If we
modify the above code with -

System.out.println(str1.equals(str2));
Then it returns true.

equals() ==

This is a method defined in the Object class. It is a binary operator in Java.

The .equals() Method is present in the Object

class, so we can override our custom .equals() It cannot be modified. The always compares
method in the custom class, for objects the HashCode.
comparison.

This operator is used for comparing

This method is used for checking the equality
addresses (or references), i.e checks if both
of contents between two objects as per the
the objects are pointing to the same
specified business logic.
memory location.

Note:

 In the cases where the equals method is not overridden in a class, then the class
uses the default implementation of the equals method that is closest to the parent
class.
 Object class is considered as the parent class of all the java classes. The
implementation of the equals method in the Object class uses the == operator to
compare two objects. This default implementation can be overridden as per the
business logic.

12. How is an infinite loop declared in Java?

Infinite loops are those loops that run infinitely without any breaking conditions.
Some examples of consciously declaring infinite loop is:

 Using For Loop:

for (;;)
{
// Business logic
// Any break logic
}

 Using while loop:

while(true){
// Business logic
// Any break logic
}

 Using do-while loop:

do{
// Business logic
// Any break logic
}while(true);

13. Briefly explain the concept of constructor overloading

Constructor overloading is the process of creating multiple constructors in the class

consisting of the same name with a difference in the constructor parameters.
Depending upon the number of parameters and their corresponding types,
distinguishing of the different types of constructors is done by the compiler.

class Hospital {
int variable1, variable2;
double variable3;
public Hospital(int doctors, int nurses) {
variable1 = doctors;
variable2 = nurses;
}
public Hospital(int doctors) {
variable1 = doctors;
}
public Hospital(double salaries) {
variable3 = salaries
}
}

Three constructors are defined here but they differ on the basis of parameter type
and their numbers.
14. Define Copy constructor in java.

Copy Constructor is the constructor used when we want to initialize the value to the
new object from the old object of the same class.

class InterviewBit{
String department;
String service;
InterviewBit(InterviewBit ib){
this.departments = ib.departments;
this.services = ib.services;
}
}

Here we are initializing the new object value from the old object value in the
constructor. Although, this can also be achieved with the help of object cloning.

15. Can the main method be Overloaded?

Yes, It is possible to overload the main method. We can create as many overloaded
main methods we want. However, JVM has a predefined calling method that JVM
will only call the main method with the definition of -

public static void main(string[] args)

Consider the below code snippets:

class Main {
public static void main(String args[]) {
System.out.println(" Main Method");
}
public static void main(int[] args){
System.out.println("Overloaded Integer array Main Method");
}
public static void main(char[] args){
System.out.println("Overloaded Character array Main Method");
}
public static int main(double[] args){
System.out.println("Overloaded Double array Main Method");
}
public static void main(float args){
System.out.println("Overloaded float Main Method");
}
}

16. Comment on method overloading and overriding by citing

relevant examples.

In Java, method overloading is made possible by introducing different methods in

the same class consisting of the same name. Still, all the functions differ in the
number or type of parameters. It takes place inside a class and enhances program
readability.
The only difference in the return type of the method does not promote method
overloading. The following example will furnish you with a clear picture of it.

class OverloadingHelp {
public int findarea (int l, int b) {
int var1;
var1 = l * b;
return var1;
}
public int findarea (int l, int b, int h) {
int var2;
var2 = l * b * h;
return var2;
}
}

Both the functions have the same name but differ in the number of arguments. The
first method calculates the area of the rectangle, whereas the second method
calculates the area of a cuboid.

Method overriding is the concept in which two methods having the same method
signature are present in two different classes in which an inheritance relationship is
present. A particular method implementation (already present in the base class) is
possible for the derived class by using method overriding.
Let’s give a look at this example:

class HumanBeing {
public int walk (int distance, int time) {
 int speed = distance / time;
return speed;
}
}
class Athlete extends HumanBeing {
public int walk(int distance, int time) {
int speed = distance / time;
speed = speed * 2;
return speed;
}
}

Both class methods have the name walk and the same parameters, distance, and
time. If the derived class method is called, then the base class method walk gets
overridden by that of the derived class.

17. A single try block and multiple catch blocks can co-exist in a Java
Program. Explain.

Yes, multiple catch blocks can exist but specific approaches should come prior to
the general approach because only the first catch block satisfying the catch
condition is executed. The given code illustrates the same:

public class MultipleCatch {

public static void main(String args[]) {
try {
int n = 1000, x = 0;
int arr[] = new int[n];
for (int i = 0; i <= n; i++) {
arr[i] = i / x;
 }
}
catch (ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException exception) {
System.out.println("1st block = ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException");
}
catch (ArithmeticException exception) {
System.out.println("2nd block = ArithmeticException");
}
catch (Exception exception) {
System.out.println("3rd block = Exception");
}
}
}

Here, the second catch block will be executed because of division by 0 (i / x). In
case x was greater than 0 then the first catch block will execute because for loop
runs till i = n and array index are till n-1.

18. Explain the use of final keyword in variable, method and class.

In Java, the final keyword is used as defining something as constant /final and
represents the non-access modifier.

 final variable:
o When a variable is declared as final in Java, the value can’t be modified once
it has been assigned.
o If any value has not been assigned to that variable, then it can be assigned
only by the constructor of the class.
 final method:
o A method declared as final cannot be overridden by its children's classes.
o A constructor cannot be marked as final because whenever a class is
inherited, the constructors are not inherited. Hence, marking it final doesn't
make sense. Java throws compilation error saying - modifier final not
allowed here
 final class:
o No classes can be inherited from the class declared as final. But that final
class can extend other classes for its usage.

19. Do final, finally and finalize keywords have the same function?

All three keywords have their own utility while programming.

Final: If any restriction is required for classes, variables, or methods, the final
keyword comes in handy. Inheritance of a final class and overriding of a final
method is restricted by the use of the final keyword. The variable value becomes
fixed after incorporating the final keyword. Example:

final int a=100;

a = 0; // error
The second statement will throw an error.

Finally: It is the block present in a program where all the codes written inside it get
executed irrespective of handling of exceptions. Example:

try {
int variable = 5;
}
catch (Exception exception) {
System.out.println("Exception occurred");
}
finally {
System.out.println("Execution of finally block");
}

Finalize: Prior to the garbage collection of an object, the finalize method is called
so that the clean-up activity is implemented. Example:

public static void main(String[] args) {

String example = new String("InterviewBit");
example = null;
System.gc(); // Garbage collector called
}
public void finalize() {
// Finalize called
}

20. Is it possible that the ‘finally’ block will not be executed? If yes
then list the case.

Yes. It is possible that the ‘finally’ block will not be executed. The cases are-

 Suppose we use System.exit() in the above statement.

 If there are fatal errors like Stack overflow, Memory access error, etc.

21. Identify the output of the java program and state the reason.
1. public class InterviewBit
2. {
3. public static void main(String[] args) {
4. final int i;
5. i = 20;
6. int j = i+20;
7. i = j+30;
8. System.out.println(i + " " + j);
9. }
10. }

The above code will generate a compile-time error at Line 7 saying - [error:
variable i might already have been initialized]. It is because variable ‘i’ is the final
variable. And final variables are allowed to be initialized only once, and that was
already done on line no 5.
22. When can you use super keyword?

 The super keyword is used to access hidden fields and overridden methods or
attributes of the parent class.
 Following are the cases when this keyword can be used:
o Accessing data members of parent class when the member names of the
class and its child subclasses are same.
o To call the default and parameterized constructor of the parent class inside
the child class.
o Accessing the parent class methods when the child classes have overridden
them.
 The following example demonstrates all 3 cases when a super keyword is used.

public class Parent{

protected int num = 1;

Parent(){
System.out.println("Parent class default constructor.");
}

Parent(String x){
System.out.println("Parent class parameterised constructor.");
}

public void foo(){

System.out.println("Parent class foo!");
}
}

public class Child extends Parent{

private int num = 2;

Child(){
System.out.println("Child class default Constructor");
super("Call Parent"); // to call parameterised constructor.
super(); // to call default parent constructor

void printNum(){
System.out.println(num);
System.out.println(super.num); //prints the value of num of
parent class
}

@Override
public void foo(){
System.out.println("Parent class foo!");
super.foo(); //Calls foo method of Parent class inside the
Overriden foo method of Child class.
}
}

23. Can the static methods be overloaded?

Yes! There can be two or more static methods in a class with the same name but
differing input parameters.

24. Why is the main method static in Java?

The main method is always static because static members are those methods that
belong to the classes, not to an individual object. So if the main method will not be
static then for every object, It is available. And that is not acceptable by JVM. JVM
calls the main method based on the class name itself. Not by creating the object.

Because there must be only 1 main method in the java program as the execution
starts from the main method. So for this reason the main method is static.

25. Can the static methods be overridden?

 No! Declaration of static methods having the same signature can be done in the
subclass but run time polymorphism can not take place in such cases.
 Overriding or dynamic polymorphism occurs during the runtime, but the static
methods are loaded and looked up at the compile time statically. Hence, these
methods cant be overridden.

26. Difference between static methods, static variables, and static

classes in java.

 Static Methods and Static variables are those methods and variables that belong
to the class of the java program, not to the object of the class. This gets memory
where the class is loaded. And these can directly be called with the help of class
names.
o For example - We have used mathematical functions in the java program like
- max(), min(), sqrt(), pow(), etc. And if we notice that, then we will find that
we call it directly with the class name. Like - Math.max(), Math.min(), etc. So
that is a static method. And Similarly static variables we have used like
(length) for the array to get the length. So that is the static method.
 Static classes - A class in the java program cannot be static except if it is the inner
class. If it is an inner static class, then it exactly works like other static members of
the class.

27. What is the main objective of garbage collection?

The main objective of this process is to free up the memory space occupied by the
unnecessary and unreachable objects during the Java program execution by
deleting those unreachable objects.

 This ensures that the memory resource is used efficiently, but it provides no
guarantee that there would be sufficient memory for the program execution.
28. What is a ClassLoader?

 Java Classloader is the program that belongs to JRE (Java Runtime Environment).
The task of ClassLoader is to load the required classes and interfaces to the JVM
when required.
 Example- To get input from the console, we require the scanner class. And the
Scanner class is loaded by the ClassLoader.

29. What part of memory - Stack or Heap - is cleaned in garbage

collection process?

Heap.

30. What are shallow copy and deep copy in java?

To copy the object's data, we have several methods like deep copy and shallow
copy.

Example -

class Rectangle{
int length = 5;
int breadth = 3;
}

Object for this Rectangle class - Rectangle obj1 = new Rectangle();

 Shallow copy - The shallow copy only creates a new reference and points to the
same object. Example - For Shallow copy, we can do this by -

Rectangle obj2 = obj1;

Now by doing this what will happen is the new reference is created with the name
obj2 and that will point to the same memory location.

 Deep Copy - In a deep copy, we create a new object and copy the old object value
to the new object. Example -

Rectangle obj3 = new Rectangle();

Obj3.length = obj1.length;
Obj3.breadth = obj1.breadth;

Both these objects will point to the memory location as stated below -
Now, if we change the values in shallow copy then they affect the other reference
as well. Let's see with the help of an example -

class Rectangle
{
int length = 5;
int breadth = 3;
}
public class Main
{
public static void main(String[] args) {
Rectangle obj1 = new Rectangle();
//Shallow Copy
Rectangle obj2 = obj1;

System.out.println(" Before Changing the value of object 1,

the object2 will be - ");
System.out.println(" Object2 Length = "+obj2.length+", Object2
Breadth = "+obj2.breadth);

//Changing the values for object1.

obj1.length = 10;
obj1.breadth = 20;

System.out.println("\n After Changing the value of object 1,

the object2 will be - ");
System.out.println(" Object2 Length = "+obj2.length+", Object2
Breadth = "+obj2.breadth);

}
}

Output -
Before Changing the value of object 1, the object2 will be -
Object2 Length = 5, Object2 Breadth = 3

After Changing the value of object 1, the object2 will be -

Object2 Length = 10, Object2 Breadth = 20

We can see that in the above code, if we change the values of object1, then the
object2 values also get changed. It is because of the reference.

Now, if we change the code to deep copy, then there will be no effect on object2 if
it is of type deep copy. Consider some snippets to be added in the above code.

class Rectangle
{
int length = 5;
int breadth = 3;
}
public class Main
{
public static void main(String[] args) {
Rectangle obj1 = new Rectangle();
//Shallow Copy
Rectangle obj2 = new Rectangle();
obj2.length = obj1.length;
obj2.breadth = obj1.breadth;

System.out.println(" Before Changing the value of object 1,

the object2 will be - ");
System.out.println(" Object2 Length = "+obj2.length+", Object2
Breadth = "+obj2.breadth);

//Changing the values for object1.

obj1.length = 10;
obj1.breadth = 20;

System.out.println("\n After Changing the value of object 1,

the object2 will be - ");
System.out.println(" Object2 Length = "+obj2.length+", Object2
Breadth = "+obj2.breadth);

}
}

The above snippet will not affect the object2 values. It has its separate values. The
output will be

Before Changing the value of object 1, the object2 will be -

Object2 Length = 5, Object2 Breadth = 3

After Changing the value of object 1, the object2 will be -

Object2 Length = 5, Object2 Breadth = 3

Now we see that we need to write the number of codes for this deep copy. So to
reduce this, In java, there is a method called clone().
The clone() will do this deep copy internally and return a new object. And to do
this we need to write only 1 line of code. That is - Rectangle obj2 = obj1.clone();

Java Intermediate Interview Questions

31. Apart from the security aspect, what are the reasons behind
making strings immutable in Java?

A String is made immutable due to the following reasons:

 String Pool: Designers of Java were aware of the fact that String data type is going
to be majorly used by the programmers and developers. Thus, they wanted
optimization from the beginning. They came up with the notion of using the String
pool (a storage area in Java heap) to store the String literals. They intended to
decrease the temporary String object with the help of sharing. An immutable class
is needed to facilitate sharing. The sharing of the mutable structures between two
unknown parties is not possible. Thus, immutable Java String helps in executing the
concept of String Pool.

 Multithreading: The safety of threads regarding the String objects is an important

aspect in Java. No external synchronization is required if the String objects are
immutable. Thus, a cleaner code can be written for sharing the String objects across
different threads. The complex process of concurrency is facilitated by this method.
 Collections: In the case of Hashtables and HashMaps, keys are String objects. If the
String objects are not immutable, then it can get modified during the period when
it resides in the HashMaps. Consequently, the retrieval of the desired data is not
 possible. Such changing states pose a lot of risks. Therefore, it is quite safe to make
the string immutable.

32. What is a singleton class in Java? And How to implement a

singleton class?

Singleton classes are those classes, whose objects are created only once. And with
only that object the class members can be accessed.

Understand this with the help of an example-:

Consider the water jug in the office and if every employee wants that water then
they will not create a new water jug for drinking water. They will use the existing
one with their own reference as a glass. So programmatically it should be
implemented as -

class WaterJug{
private int waterQuantity = 500;
private WaterJug(){}
private WaterJug object = null;

// Method to provide the service of Giving Water.

public int getWater(int quantity){
waterQuantity -= quantity;
return quantity;
}
// Method to return the object to the user.
public static Waterjug getInstance(){
// Will Create a new object if the object is not already created
and return the object.
if(object == null){
object = new WaterJug();
}
return object;
}
}

In the above class, the Constructor is private so we cannot create the object of the
class. But we can get the object by calling the method getInstance(). And the
getInstance is static so it can be called without creating the object. And it returns
the object. Now with that object, we can call getWater() to get the water.

Waterjug glass1 = WaterJug.getInstance();

glass1.getWater(1);

We can get the single object using this getInstance(). And it is static, so it is a
thread-safe singleton class. Although there are many ways to create a thread-safe
singleton class. So thread-safe classes can also be:

 When singletons are written with double-checked locking, they can be thread-safe.
  We can use static singletons that are initialized during class loading. Like we did in
the above example.
 But the most straightforward way to create a thread-safe singleton is to use Java
enums.

33. Which of the below generates a compile-time error? State the

reason.

1. int[] n1 = new int[0];

2. boolean[] n2 = new boolean[-200];
3. double[] n3 = new double[2241423798];
4. char[] ch = new char[20];

We get a compile-time error in line 3. The error we will get in Line 3 is - integer
number too large. It is because the array requires size as an integer. And Integer
takes 4 Bytes in the memory. And the number (2241423798) is beyond the capacity
of the integer. The maximum array size we can declare is - (2147483647).

Because the array requires the size in integer, none of the lines (1, 2, and 4) will give
a compile-time error. The program will compile fine. But we get the runtime
exception in line 2. The exception is - NegativeArraySizeException.

Here what will happen is - At the time when JVM will allocate the required memory
during runtime then it will find that the size is negative. And the array size can’t be
negative. So the JVM will throw the exception.

34. How would you differentiate between a String, StringBuffer, and

a StringBuilder?

 Storage area: In string, the String pool serves as the storage area. For StringBuilder
and StringBuffer, heap memory is the storage area.
 Mutability: A String is immutable, whereas both the StringBuilder and StringBuffer
are mutable.
 Efficiency: It is quite slow to work with a String. However, StringBuilder is the
fastest in performing operations. The speed of a StringBuffer is more than a String
and less than a StringBuilder. (For example appending a character is fastest in
StringBuilder and very slow in String because a new memory is required for the new
String with appended character.)
 Thread-safe: In the case of a threaded environment, StringBuilder and StringBuffer
are used whereas a String is not used. However, StringBuilder is suitable for an
environment with a single thread, and a StringBuffer is suitable for multiple threads.
Syntax:

// String
String first = "InterviewBit";
String second = new String("InterviewBit");
// StringBuffer
StringBuffer third = new StringBuffer("InterviewBit");
// StringBuilder
StringBuilder fourth = new StringBuilder("InterviewBit");

35. Using relevant properties highlight the differences between

interfaces and abstract classes.

 Availability of methods: Only abstract methods are available in interfaces, whereas

non-abstract methods can be present along with abstract methods in abstract
classes.
 Variable types: Static and final variables can only be declared in the case of
interfaces, whereas abstract classes can also have non-static and non-final variables.
 Inheritance: Multiple inheritances are facilitated by interfaces, whereas abstract
classes do not promote multiple inheritances.
 Data member accessibility: By default, the class data members of interfaces are of
the public- type. Conversely, the class members for an abstract class can be
protected or private also.
 Implementation: With the help of an abstract class, the implementation of an
interface is easily possible. However, the converse is not true;

Abstract class example:

public abstract class Athlete {

public abstract void walk();
}

Interface example:

public interface Walkable {

void walk();
}

36. Is this program giving a compile-time error? If Yes then state the
reason and number of errors it will give. If not then state the reason.
abstract final class InterviewBit{
2. public abstract void printMessage();
3. }
4. class ScalarAcademy extends InterviewBit{
5. public void printMessage(){
6. System.out.println("Welcome to Scalar Academy By
InterviewBit");
7. }
8. }
9. class ScalarTopics extends ScalarAcademy{
10. public void printMessage(){
11. System.out.println("Welcome to Scalar Topics By Scalar
Academy");
12. }
13. }
public class Main{
public static void main(String[] args) {
InterviewBit ib = new ScalarTopics();
 ib.printMessage();
}
}

The above program will give a compile-time error. The compiler will throw 2 errors
in this.

 [Illegal Combination of modifiers: abstract and final] at line 1.

 [Cannot inherit from final ‘InterviewBit’] at line 4.

It is because abstract classes are incomplete classes that need to be inherited for
making their concrete classes. And on the other hand, the final keywords in class
are used for avoiding inheritance. So these combinations are not allowed in java.

37. What is a Comparator in java?

Consider the example where we have an ArrayList of employees like( EId, Ename,
Salary), etc. Now if we want to sort this list of employees based on the names of
employees. Then that is not possible to sort using the Collections.sort() method. We
need to provide something to the sort() function depending on what values we
have to perform sorting. Then in that case a comparator is used.

Comparator is the interface in java that contains the compare method. And by
overloading the compare method, we can define that on what basis we need to
compare the values.

38. In Java, static as well as private method overriding is possible.

Comment on the statement.

The statement in the context is completely False. The static methods have no
relevance with the objects, and these methods are of the class level. In the case of a
child class, a static method with a method signature exactly like that of the parent
class can exist without even throwing any compilation error.

The phenomenon mentioned here is popularly known as method hiding, and

overriding is certainly not possible. Private method overriding is unimaginable
because the visibility of the private method is restricted to the parent class only. As
a result, only hiding can be facilitated and not overriding.

39. What makes a HashSet different from a TreeSet?

Although both HashSet and TreeSet are not synchronized and ensure that
duplicates are not present, there are certain properties that distinguish a HashSet
from a TreeSet.
  Implementation: For a HashSet, the hash table is utilized for storing the elements
in an unordered manner. However, TreeSet makes use of the red-black tree to store
the elements in a sorted manner.
 Complexity/ Performance: For adding, retrieving, and deleting elements, the time
amortized complexity is O(1) for a HashSet. The time complexity for performing the
same operations is a bit higher for TreeSet and is equal to O(log n). Overall, the
performance of HashSet is faster in comparison to TreeSet.
 Methods: hashCode() and equals() are the methods utilized by HashSet for making
comparisons between the objects. Conversely, compareTo() and compare() methods
are utilized by TreeSet to facilitate object comparisons.
 Objects type: Heterogeneous and null objects can be stored with the help of
HashSet. In the case of a TreeSet, runtime exception occurs while inserting
heterogeneous objects or null objects.

40. Why is the character array preferred over string for storing
confidential information?

In Java, a string is basically immutable i.e. it cannot be modified. After its

declaration, it continues to stay in the string pool as long as it is not removed in the
form of garbage. In other words, a string resides in the heap section of the memory
for an unregulated and unspecified time interval after string value processing is
executed.

As a result, vital information can be stolen for pursuing harmful activities by hackers
if a memory dump is illegally accessed by them. Such risks can be eliminated by
using mutable objects or structures like character arrays for storing any variable.
After the work of the character array variable is done, the variable can be
configured to blank at the same instant. Consequently, it helps in saving heap
memory and also gives no chance to the hackers to extract vital data.

41. What do we get in the JDK file?

 JDK- For making java programs, we need some tools that are provided by JDK (Java
Development Kit). JDK is the package that contains various tools, Compiler, Java
Runtime Environment, etc.
 JRE - To execute the java program we need an environment. (Java Runtime
Environment) JRE contains a library of Java classes + JVM. What are JAVA
Classes? It contains some predefined methods that help Java programs to use that
feature, build and execute. For example - there is a system class in java that
contains the print-stream method, and with the help of this, we can print something
on the console.
 JVM - (Java Virtual Machine) JVM is a part of JRE that executes the Java program at
the end. Actually, it is part of JRE, but it is software that converts bytecode into
machine-executable code to execute on hardware.
42. What are the differences between JVM, JRE and JDK in Java?

Criteria JDK JRE JVM

Abbreviation Java Development Java Runtime

Java Virtual Machine
Kit Environment

Definition JVM is a platform-dependent,

JDK is a complete JRE is a software
abstract machine comprising of 3
software package providing
specifications - document
development kit for Java class libraries,
describing the JVM implementation
developing Java JVM and all the
requirements, computer program
applications. It required
meeting the JVM requirements and
comprises JRE, components to run
instance object for executing the
JavaDoc, compiler, the Java
Java byte code and provide the
debuggers, etc. applications.
runtime environment for execution.

Main JDK is mainly used JRE is mainly used

Purpose for code for environment JVM provides specifications for all
development and creation to execute the implementations to JRE.
execution. the code.

Tools JDK provides tools JRE provides

JVM does not include any tools, but
provided like compiler, libraries and classes
instead, it provides the
debuggers, etc for required by JVM to
specification for implementation.
code development run the program.
Criteria JDK JRE JVM

Summary JRE = (JVM) +

JDK = (JRE) + JVM = Runtime environment to
Libraries to execute
Development tools execute Java byte code.
the application

43. What are the differences between HashMap and HashTable in

Java?

HashMap HashTable

HashMap is not synchronized thereby making it HashTable is synchronized and hence it is

better for non-threaded applications. suitable for threaded applications.

Allows only one null key but any number of null This does not allow null in both keys or
in the values. values.

Supports order of insertion by making use of its Order of insertion is not guaranteed in
subclass LinkedHashMap. HashTable.

44. What is the importance of reflection in Java?

 The term reflection is used for describing the inspection capability of a code on
other code either of itself or of its system and modify it during runtime.
 Consider an example where we have an object of unknown type and we have a
method ‘fooBar()’ which we need to call on the object. The static typing system of
Java doesn't allow this method invocation unless the type of the object is known
beforehand. This can be achieved using reflection which allows the code to scan the
object and identify if it has any method called “fooBar()” and only then call the
method if needed.

Method methodOfFoo = fooObject.getClass().getMethod("fooBar", null);

methodOfFoo.invoke(fooObject, null);

 Using reflection has its own cons:

o Speed — Method invocations due to reflection are about three times slower
than the direct method calls.
o Type safety — When a method is invoked via its reference wrongly using
reflection, invocation fails at runtime as it is not detected at compile/load
time.
o Traceability — Whenever a reflective method fails, it is very difficult to find
the root cause of this failure due to a huge stack trace. One has to deep dive
into the invoke() and proxy() method logs to identify the root cause.
  Hence, it is advisable to follow solutions that don't involve reflection and use this
method as a last resort.

45. What are the different ways of threads usage?

 We can define and implement a thread in java using two ways:

o Extending the Thread class

class InterviewBitThreadExample extends Thread{

public void run(){
System.out.println("Thread runs...");
}
public static void main(String args[]){
InterviewBitThreadExample ib = new InterviewBitThreadExample();
ib.start();
}
}

 Implementing the Runnable interface

class InterviewBitThreadExample implements Runnable{

public void run(){
System.out.println("Thread runs...");
}
public static void main(String args[]){
Thread ib = new Thread(new InterviewBitThreadExample());
ib.start();
}
}

 Implementing a thread using the method of Runnable interface is more preferred

and advantageous as Java does not have support for multiple inheritances of
classes.
 start() method is used for creating a separate call stack for the thread execution.
Once the call stack is created, JVM calls the run() method for executing the thread
in that call stack.

46. What are the different types of Thread Priorities in Java? And
what is the default priority of a thread assigned by JVM?

There are a total of 3 different types of priority available in Java.

MIN_PRIORITY: It has an integer value assigned with 1.

MAX_PRIORITY: It has an integer value assigned with 10.
NORM_PRIORITY: It has an integer value assigned with 5.

In Java, Thread with MAX_PRIORITY gets the first chance to execute. But the default
priority for any thread is NORM_PRIORITY assigned by JVM.

47. What is the difference between the program and the process?
  A program can be defined as a line of code written in order to accomplish a
particular task. Whereas the process can be defined as the programs which are
under execution.
 A program doesn't execute directly by the CPU. First, the resources are allocated to
the program and when it is ready for execution then it is a process.

48. What is the difference between the ‘throw’ and ‘throws’ keyword
in java?

 The ‘throw’ keyword is used to manually throw the exception to the calling
method.
 And the ‘throws’ keyword is used in the function definition to inform the calling
method that this method throws the exception. So if you are calling, then you have
to handle the exception.

Example -

class Main {
public static int testExceptionDivide(int a, int b) throws
ArithmeticException{
if(a == 0 || b == 0)
throw new ArithmeticException();
return a/b;
}
public static void main(String args[]) {
try{
testExceptionDivide(10, 0);
}
catch(ArithmeticException e){
//Handle the exception
}
}
}

Here in the above snippet, the method testExceptionDivide throws an exception. So

if the main method is calling it then it must have handled the exception. Otherwise,
the main method can also throw the exception to JVM.

And the method testExceptionDivide 'throws’ the exception based on the condition.

49. What are the differences between constructor and method of a

class in Java?

Constructor Method

Method is used for exposing the

Constructor is used for initializing the object state.
object's behavior.
Constructor Method

Method should have a return

Constructor has no return type. type. Even if it does not return
anything, return type is void.

Method has to be invoked on the

Constructor gets invoked implicitly.
object explicitly.

If the constructor is not defined, then a default If a method is not defined, then
constructor is provided by the java compiler. the compiler does not provide it.

The name of the method can

The constructor name should be equal to the class name. have any name or have a class
name too.

A constructor cannot be marked as final because

whenever a class is inherited, the constructors are not A method can be defined as final
inherited. Hence, marking it final doesn't make sense. Java but it cannot be overridden in its
throws compilation error saying - modifier final not subclasses.
allowed here

A final variable if initialised inside

Final variable instantiations are possible inside a
a method ensures that the
constructor and the scope of this applies to the whole
variable cant be changed only
class and its objects.
within the scope of that method.

50. Identify the output of the below java program and Justify your
answer.
class Main {
public static void main(String args[]) {
Scaler s = new Scaler(5);
}
}
class InterviewBit{
InterviewBit(){
System.out.println(" Welcome to InterviewBit ");
}
}
class Scaler extends InterviewBit{
Scaler(){
System.out.println(" Welcome to Scaler Academy ");
}
Scaler(int x){
this();
super();
System.out.println(" Welcome to Scaler Academy 2");
 }
}

The above code will throw the compilation error. It is because the super() is used
to call the parent class constructor. But there is the condition that super() must be
the first statement in the block. Now in this case, if we
replace this() with super() then also it will throw the compilation error. Because
this() also has to be the first statement in the block. So in conclusion, we can say
that we cannot use this() and super() keywords in the same block.

51. Java works as “pass by value” or “pass by reference”

phenomenon?

Java always works as a “pass by value”. There is nothing called a “pass by reference”
in Java. However, when the object is passed in any method, the address of the value
is passed due to the nature of object handling in Java. When an object is passed, a
copy of the reference is created by Java and that is passed to the method. The
objects point to the same memory location. 2 cases might happen inside the
method:

 Case 1: When the object is pointed to another location: In this case, the changes
made to that object do not get reflected the original object before it was passed to
the method as the reference points to another location.

For example:

class InterviewBitTest{
int num;
InterviewBitTest(int x){
num = x;
}
InterviewBitTest(){
num = 0;
}
}
class Driver {
public static void main(String[] args)
{
//create a reference
InterviewBitTest ibTestObj = new InterviewBitTest(20);
//Pass the reference to updateObject Method
updateObject(ibTestObj);
//After the updateObject is executed, check for the value of num
in the object.
System.out.println(ibTestObj.num);
}
public static void updateObject(InterviewBitTest ibObj)
{
// Point the object to new reference
ibObj = new InterviewBitTest();
// Update the value
ibObj.num = 50;
 }
}
Output:
20

 Case 2: When object references are not modified: In this case, since we have the
copy of reference the main object pointing to the same memory location, any
changes in the content of the object get reflected in the original object.

For example:

class InterviewBitTest{
int num;
InterviewBitTest(int x){
num = x;
}
InterviewBitTest(){
num = 0;
}
}
class Driver{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
//create a reference
InterviewBitTest ibTestObj = new InterviewBitTest(20);
//Pass the reference to updateObject Method
updateObject(ibTestObj);
//After the updateObject is executed, check for the value of num
in the object.
System.out.println(ibTestObj.num);
}
public static void updateObject(InterviewBitTest ibObj)
{
// no changes are made to point the ibObj to new location
// Update the value of num
ibObj.num = 50;
}
}
Output:
50

52. What is the ‘IS-A ‘ relationship in OOPs java?

‘IS-A’ relationship is another name for inheritance. When we inherit the base class
from the derived class, then it forms a relationship between the classes. So that
relationship is termed an ‘IS-A’ Relationship.

Example - Consider a Television (Typical CRT TV). Now another Smart TV that is
inherited from television class. So we can say that the Smart iv is also a TV. Because
CRT TV things can also be done in the Smart TV.
So here ‘IS-A’ Relationship formed. [ SmartTV ‘IS-A’ TV ].

53. Which among String or String Buffer should be preferred when

there are lot of updates required to be done in the data?

StringBuffer is mutable and dynamic in nature whereas String is immutable. Every

updation / modification of String creates a new String thereby overloading the
string pool with unnecessary objects. Hence, in the cases of a lot of updates, it is
always preferred to use StringBuffer as it will reduce the overhead of the creation of
multiple String objects in the string pool.

54. How to not allow serialization of attributes of a class in Java?

 In order to achieve this, the attribute can be declared along with the usage
of transient keyword as shown below:

public class InterviewBitExample {

private transient String someInfo;

private String name;
private int id;
// :
// Getters setters
// :
}

 In the above example, all the fields except someInfo can be serialized.

55. What happens if the static modifier is not included in the main
method signature in Java?
There wouldn't be any compilation error. But then the program is run, since the
JVM cant map the main method signature, the code throws “NoSuchMethodError”
error at the runtime.

56. Consider the below program, identify the output, and also state
the reason for that.
public class Main{
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println(" Hello. Main Method. ");
}
public static void main(int[] args) {
System.out.println(" Hello. Main Method2. ");
}
}

The output of the above program will be Hello. Main Method. This is because JVM
will always call the main method based on the definition it already has. Doesn't
matter how many main methods we overload it will only execute one main method
based on its declaration in JVM.

57. Can we make the main() thread a daemon thread?

In java multithreading, the main() threads are always non-daemon threads. And
there is no way we can change the nature of the non-daemon thread to the
daemon thread.

58. What happens if there are multiple main methods inside one class
in Java?

The program can't compile as the compiler says that the method has been already
defined inside the class.

59. What do you understand by Object Cloning and how do you

achieve it in Java?

 It is the process of creating an exact copy of any object. In order to support this, a
java class has to implement the Cloneable interface of java.lang package and
override the clone() method provided by the Object class the syntax of which is:

protected Object clone() throws CloneNotSupportedException{

return (Object)super.clone();
}

 In case the Cloneable interface is not implemented and just the method is
overridden, it results in CloneNotSupportedException in Java.
60. How does an exception propagate in the code?

When an exception occurs, first it searches to locate the matching catch block. In
case, the matching catch block is located, then that block would be executed. Else,
the exception propagates through the method call stack and goes into the caller
method where the process of matching the catch block is performed. This
propagation happens until the matching catch block is found. If the match is not
found, then the program gets terminated in the main method.

61. How do exceptions affect the program if it doesn't handle them?

Exceptions are runtime errors. Suppose we are making an android application with
java. And it all works fine but there is an exceptional case when the application tries
to get the file from storage and the file doesn’t exist (This is the case of exception
in java). And if this case is not handled properly then the application will crash. This
will be a bad experience for users. This is the type of error that cannot be
controlled by the programmer. But programmers can take some steps to avoid this
so that the application won’t crash. The proper action can be taken at this step.

62. Is it mandatory for a catch block to be followed after a try block?

No, it is not necessary for a catch block to be present after a try block. - A try block
should be followed either by a catch block or by a finally block. If the exceptions
likelihood is more, then they should be declared using the throws clause of the
method.
63. Will the finally block get executed when the return statement is
written at the end of try block and catch block as shown below?
public int someMethod(int i){
try{
//some statement
return 1;
}catch(Exception e){
//some statement
return 999;
}finally{
//finally block statements
}
}

finally block will be executed irrespective of the exception or not. The only case
where finally block is not executed is when it encounters ‘System.exit()’ method
anywhere in try/catch block.

64. Can you call a constructor of a class inside the another

constructor?

Yes, the concept can be termed as constructor chaining and can be achieved
using this().

65. Contiguous memory locations are usually used for storing actual
values in an array but not in ArrayList. Explain.
In the case of ArrayList, data storing in the form of primitive data types (like int,
float, etc.) is not possible. The data members/objects present in the ArrayList have
references to the objects which are located at various sites in the memory. Thus,
storing of actual objects or non-primitive data types (like Integer, Double, etc.)
takes place in various memory locations.

However, the same does not apply to the arrays. Object or primitive type values can
be stored in arrays in contiguous memory locations, hence every element does not
require any reference to the next element.
66. Why does the java array index start with 0?

It is because the 0 index array avoids the extra arithmetic operation to calculate the
memory address.

Example - Consider the array and assume each element takes 4-byte memory
space. Then the address will be like this -

Now if we want to access index 4. Then internally java calculates the address using
the formula-

[Base Address + (index * no_of_bytes)]. So according to this. The starting address

of the index 4 will be - [100 + (4*4)] = 116. And exactly that's what the address is
calculated.
Now consider the same with 1 index Array -
Now if we apply the same formula here. Then we get - 116 as the starting address
of the 4th index. Which is wrong. Then we need to apply formula - [Base Address +
((index-1) * no_of_bytes)].

And for calculating this, an extra arithmetic operation has to be performed. And
consider the case where millions of addresses need to be calculated, this causes
complexity. So to avoid this, ) the index array is supported by java.

67. Why is the remove method faster in the linked list than in an
array?

In the linked list, we only need to adjust the references when we want to delete the
element from either end or the front of the linked list. But in the array, indexes are
used. So to manage proper indexing, we need to adjust the values from the array
So this adjustment of value is costlier than the adjustment of references.

Example - To Delete from the front of the linked list, internally the references
adjustments happened like this.
The only thing that will change is that the head pointer will point to the head’s next
node. And delete the previous node. That is the constant time operation.

Whereas in the ArrayList, internally it should work like this-

For deletion of the first element, all the next element has to move to one place
ahead. So this copying value takes time. So that is the reason why removing in
ArrayList is slower than LinkedList.
68. How many overloaded add() and addAll() methods are available
in the List interface? Describe the need and uses.

There are a total of 4 overloaded methods for add() and addAll() methods available
in List Interface. The below table states the description of all.

Return Type Method Description

boolean add(Element e): This method is used for adding the element at the end of the
List. The Datatype of the element is of any type it has been initially assigned
with. It returns the boolean indicating successfully inserted or not.

void add(int index, Element e): This method is the overloaded version of add()
method. In this, along with the element, the index is also passed to the method
for the specific index the value needs to be inserted.

boolean addAll(Collection <extends ? Element > c): This method helps to add all
elements at the end of collections from the list received in the parameter. It
contains an iterator that helps to iterate the list and add the elements to the
collection.

boolean addAll(int index, Collection <extends ? Element > c): This is the overloaded
method for addAll() method. In this along with the list, we can pass the
specified index from which the list elements need to be added.

69. How does the size of ArrayList grow dynamically? And also state
how it is implemented internally.

ArrayList is implemented in such a way that it can grow dynamically. We don't need
to specify the size of ArrayList. For adding the values in it, the methodology it uses
is -

1. Consider initially that there are 2 elements in the ArrayList. [2, 3].
2. If we need to add the element into this. Then internally what will happen is-

 ArrayList will allocate the new ArrayList of Size (current size + half of the current
size). And add the old elements into the new. Old - [2, 3], New - [2, 3, null, null].

 Then the new value will be inserted into it. [2, 3, 4, null]. And for the next time, the
extra space will be available for the value to be inserted.
3. This process continues and the time taken to perform all of these is considered
as the amortized constant time.

This is how the ArrayList grows dynamically. And when we delete any entry from
the ArrayList then the following steps are performed -

1. It searches for the element index in the array. Searching takes some time.
Typically it’s O(n) because it needs to search for the element in the entire array.

2. After searching the element, it needs to shift the element from the right side to
fill the index.
So this is how the elements are deleted from the ArrayList internally. Similarly, the
search operations are also implemented internally as defined in removing elements
from the list (searching for elements to delete).

Java Advanced Interview Questions

70. Although inheritance is a popular OOPs concept, it is less
advantageous than composition. Explain.

Inheritance lags behind composition in the following scenarios:

 Multiple-inheritance is not possible in Java. Classes can only extend from one
superclass. In cases where multiple functionalities are required, for example - to
read and write information into the file, the pattern of composition is preferred. The
writer, as well as reader functionalities, can be made use of by considering them as
the private members.
 Composition assists in attaining high flexibility and prevents breaking of
encapsulation.
 Unit testing is possible with composition and not inheritance. When a developer
wants to test a class composing a different class, then Mock Object can be created
for signifying the composed class to facilitate testing. This technique is not possible
with the help of inheritance as the derived class cannot be tested without the help
of the superclass in inheritance.
 The loosely coupled nature of composition is preferable over the tightly coupled
nature of inheritance.

Let’s take an example:

package comparison;
public class Top {
public int start() {
return 0;
}
}
class Bottom extends Top {
public int stop() {
return 0;
}
}

In the above example, inheritance is followed. Now, some modifications are done to
the Top class like this:

public class Top {

public int start() {
return 0;
}
public void stop() {
}
}
If the new implementation of the Top class is followed, a compile-time error is
bound to occur in the Bottom class. Incompatible return type is there for the
Top.stop() function. Changes have to be made to either the Top or the Bottom class
to ensure compatibility. However, the composition technique can be utilized to
solve the given problem:

class Bottom {
Top par = new Top();
public int stop() {
par.start();
par.stop();
return 0;
}
}

71. What is the difference between ‘>>’ and ‘>>>’ operators in java?

These 2 are the bitwise right shift operators. Although both operators look similar.
But there is a minimal difference between these two right shift operators.

 ‘>>’ Bitwise Right Shift Operator- This operator shifts each bit to its right
position. And this maintains the signed bit.
 ‘>>>’ Bitwise Right Shift Operator with trailing zero- This operator also shifts
each bit to its right. But this doesn’t maintain the signed bit. This operator makes
the Most significant bit to 0.

Example- Num1 = 8, Num2 = -8.

So the binary form of these numbers are -

Num1 = 00000000 00000000 00000000 00001000

Num2 = 11111111 11111111 11111111 11111000

‘>>’ Operator : 8 >> 1 (Shift by one bit) :

Num1 = 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000100

Num2 = 11111111 11111111 11111111 11111100

‘>>>’ Operator : 8 >>> 1 (Shift by one bit) =

Num1 = 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000100

Num2 = 01111111 11111111 11111111 11111100

72. What are Composition and Aggregation? State the difference.

Composition, and Aggregation help to build (Has - A - Relationship) between
classes and objects. But both are not the same in the end. Let’s understand with
the help of an example.

 Consider the University as a class that has some departments in it. So the university
will be the container object. And departments in it will contain objects. Now in this
case, if the container object destroys then the contained objects will also get
destroyed automatically. So here we can say that there is a strong association
between the objects. So this Strong Association is called Composition.
 Now consider one more example. Suppose we have a class department and there
are several professors' objects there in the department. Now if the department class
is destroyed then the professor's object will become free to bind with other objects.
Because container objects (Department) only hold the references of contained
objects (Professor’s). So here is the weak association between the objects. And this
weak association is called Aggregation.

73. How is the creation of a String using new() different from that of
a literal?

When a String is formed as a literal with the assistance of an assignment operator,

it makes its way into the String constant pool so that String Interning can take
place. This same object in the heap will be referenced by a different String if the
content is the same for both of them.

public bool checking() {

String first = "InterviewBit";
String second = "InterviewBit";
if (first == second)
return true;
else
return false;
}

The checking() function will return true as the same content is referenced by both
the variables.
Conversely, when a String formation takes place with the help of a new() operator,
interning does not take place. The object gets created in the heap memory even if
the same content object is present.

public bool checking() {

String first = new String("InterviewBit");
String second = new String("InterviewBit");
if (first == second)
return true;
else
return false;
}

The checking() function will return false as the same content is not referenced by
both the variables.
74. How is the ‘new’ operator different from the ‘newInstance()’
operator in java?

Both ‘new’ and ‘newInstance()’ operators are used to creating objects. The
difference is- that when we already know the class name for which we have to
create the object then we use a new operator. But suppose we don’t know the class
name for which we need to create the object, Or we get the class name from the
command line argument, or the database, or the file. Then in that case we use the
‘newInstance()’ operator.

The ‘newInstance()’ keyword throws an exception that we need to handle. It is

because there are chances that the class definition doesn’t exist, and we get the
class name from runtime. So it will throw an exception.

75. Is exceeding the memory limit possible in a program despite

having a garbage collector?

Yes, it is possible for the program to go out of memory in spite of the presence of a
garbage collector. Garbage collection assists in recognizing and eliminating those
objects which are not required in the program anymore, in order to free up the
resources used by them.

In a program, if an object is unreachable, then the execution of garbage collection

takes place with respect to that object. If the amount of memory required for
creating a new object is not sufficient, then memory is released for those objects
which are no longer in the scope with the help of a garbage collector. The memory
limit is exceeded for the program when the memory released is not enough for
creating new objects.

Moreover, exhaustion of the heap memory takes place if objects are created in such
a manner that they remain in the scope and consume memory. The developer
should make sure to dereference the object after its work is accomplished.
Although the garbage collector endeavors its level best to reclaim memory as much
as possible, memory limits can still be exceeded.

Let’s take a look at the following example:

List<String> example = new LinkedList<String>();

while(true){
example.add(new String("Memory Limit Exceeded"));
}

76. Why is synchronization necessary? Explain with the help of a

relevant example.

Concurrent execution of different processes is made possible by synchronization.

When a particular resource is shared between many threads, situations may arise in
which multiple threads require the same shared resource.

Synchronization assists in resolving the issue and the resource is shared by a single
thread at a time. Let’s take an example to understand it more clearly. For example,
you have a URL and you have to find out the number of requests made to it. Two
simultaneous requests can make the count erratic.

No synchronization:

package anonymous;
public class Counting {
private int increase_counter;
public int increase() {
increase_counter = increase_counter + 1;
return increase_counter;
}
}
If a thread Thread1 views the count as 10, it will be increased by 1 to 11.
Simultaneously, if another thread Thread2 views the count as 10, it will be increased
by 1 to 11. Thus, inconsistency in count values takes place because the expected
final value is 12 but the actual final value we get will be 11.

Now, the function increase() is made synchronized so that simultaneous accessing

cannot take place.

With synchronization:

package anonymous;
public class Counting {
private int increase_counter;
public synchronized int increase() {
increase_counter = increase_counter + 1;
return increase_counter;
}
}
If a thread Thread1 views the count as 10, it will be increased by 1 to 11, then the
thread Thread2 will view the count as 11, it will be increased by 1 to 12. Thus,
consistency in count values takes place.

77. In the given code below, what is the significance of ... ?

public void fooBarMethod(String... variables){
// method code
}

 Ability to provide ... is a feature called varargs (variable arguments) which was
introduced as part of Java 5.
 The function having ... in the above example indicates that it can receive multiple
arguments of the datatype String.
 For example, the fooBarMethod can be called in multiple ways and we can still have
one method to process the data as shown below:

fooBarMethod("foo", "bar");
fooBarMethod("foo", "bar", "boo");
fooBarMethod(new String[]{"foo", "var", "boo"});
public void myMethod(String... variables){
for(String variable : variables){
// business logic
}
}
78. What will be the output of the below java program and define the
steps of Execution of the java program with the help of the below
code?
class InterviewBit{
int i;
static int j;
{
System.out.println(" Instance Block 1. Value of i = "+i);
}
static{
System.out.println(" Static Block 1. Value of j = "+j);
method_2();
}
{
i = 5;
}
static{
j = 10;
}
InterviewBit(){
System.out.println(" Welcome to InterviewBit ");
}
public static void main(String[] args){
InterviewBit ib = new InterviewBit();
}
public void method_1(){
System.out.println(" Instance method. ");
}
static{
System.out.println(" Static Block 2. Value of j = "+j);
}
{
System.out.println(" Instance Block 2. Value of i = "+i);
method_1();
}
public static void method_2(){
System.out.println(" Static method. ");
}
}

The Output we get by executing this program will be

Static Block 1. Value of j = 0

Static method.
Static Block 2. Value of j = 10
Instance Block 1. Value of i = 0
Instance Block 2. Value of i = 5
Instance method.
Welcome to InterviewBit

This is a java tricky interview question frequently asked in java interviews for the
experienced. The output will be like this because, when the java program is
compiled and gets executed, then there are various steps followed for execution.
And the steps are -

 Identification of Static Members from top to bottom.

 Execution of Static variable assignment and a Static block from top to bottom.
 Execution of the main method.
 Identification of Instance Members from top to bottom.
 Execution of Instance variable assignment and Instance block from top to bottom.
 Execution of Constructor.

In above steps from 4 to 6, will be executed for every object creation. If we create
multiple objects then for every object these steps will be performed.

Now from the above code, the execution will happen like this -

1. In the step of identification of static members. It is found that -

 static int j.
 static block.
 main method.
 static method_2.

During identification, the JVM will assign the default value in the static int j variable.
Then it is currently in the state of reading and indirectly writing. Because the
original value is not assigned.

2. In the next step, it will execute the static block and assign the value in static
variables.

 First static block it will print and because execution from top to bottom and original
value in j is not assigned. So it will print the default value of 0.
 After executing static block 1. It will execute the static method_1 because it is called
from the static block 1.
 Then it will assign the original value of 5 in the j variable. And executes the
remaining static block.

3. Now it will execute the main method. In which it will create an object for the class
InterviewBit. And then the execution of instances will happen.

4. Identify the instance variables and blocks from top to bottom.

 int i.
 Instance block 1.
 Instance method_1.
Like a static variable, the instance variable also has been initialized with the default
value 0 and will be in the state of reading and writing indirectly.

5. It will execute the instance methods and assign the original value to the instance
variable.

 Prints the Instance block 1. And the current value of i is not assigned till now, so it
will print 0.
 Assign the original value to i. Then print instance block 2. And after that instance
method will be called and printed because it is being called in the instance block.

6. And at the last step, the constructor will be invoked and the lines will be
executed in the constructor.

This is how the java program gets executed.

79. Define System.out.println().

System.out.println() is used to print the message on the console. System - It is a

class present in java.lang package. Out is the static variable of type PrintStream
class present in the System class. println() is the method present in the
PrintStream class.

So if we justify the statement, then we can say that if we want to print anything on
the console then we need to call the println() method that was present in
PrintStream class. And we can call this using the output object that is present in the
System class.

80. Can you explain the Java thread lifecycle?

Java thread life cycle is as follows:

 New – When the instance of the thread is created and the start() method has not
been invoked, the thread is considered to be alive and hence in the NEW state.
 Runnable – Once the start() method is invoked, before the run() method is called
by JVM, the thread is said to be in RUNNABLE (ready to run) state. This state can
also be entered from the Waiting or Sleeping state of the thread.
 Running – When the run() method has been invoked and the thread starts its
execution, the thread is said to be in a RUNNING state.
 Non-Runnable (Blocked/Waiting) – When the thread is not able to run despite
the fact of its aliveness, the thread is said to be in a NON-RUNNABLE state. Ideally,
after some time of its aliveness, the thread should go to a runnable state.
o A thread is said to be in a Blocked state if it wants to enter synchronized
code but it is unable to as another thread is operating in that synchronized
block on the same object. The first thread has to wait until the other thread
exits the synchronized block.
 o A thread is said to be in a Waiting state if it is waiting for the signal to
execute from another thread, i.e it waits for work until the signal is received.
 Terminated – Once the run() method execution is completed, the thread is said to
enter the TERMINATED step and is considered to not be alive.

The following flowchart clearly explains the lifecycle of the thread in Java.

81. What could be the tradeoff between the usage of an unordered

array versus the usage of an ordered array?

 The main advantage of having an ordered array is the reduced search time
complexity of O(log n) whereas the time complexity in an unordered array is O(n).
 The main drawback of the ordered array is its increased insertion time which is O(n)
due to the fact that its element has to reordered to maintain the order of array
during every insertion whereas the time complexity in the unordered array is only
O(1).
 Considering the above 2 key points and depending on what kind of scenario a
developer requires, the appropriate data structure can be used for implementation.

82. Is it possible to import the same class or package twice in Java

and what happens to it during runtime?

It is possible to import a class or package more than once, however, it is redundant

because the JVM internally loads the package or class only once.
83. In case a package has sub packages, will it suffice to import only
the main package? e.g. Does importing of com.myMainPackage.* also
import com.myMainPackage.mySubPackage.*?

This is a big NO. We need to understand that the importing of the sub-packages of
a package needs to be done explicitly. Importing the parent package only results in
the import of the classes within it and not the contents of its child/sub-packages.

84. Will the finally block be executed if the code System.exit(0) is

written at the end of try block?

NO. The control of the program post System.exit(0) is immediately gone and the
program gets terminated which is why the finally block never gets executed.

85. What do you understand by marker interfaces in Java?

Marker interfaces, also known as tagging interfaces are those interfaces that have
no methods and constants defined in them. They are there for helping the compiler
and JVM to get run time-related information regarding the objects.

86. Explain the term “Double Brace Initialisation” in Java?

This is a convenient means of initializing any collections in Java. Consider the below
example.

import java.util.HashSet;
import java.util.Set;

public class IBDoubleBraceDemo{

public static void main(String[] args){
Set<String> stringSets = new HashSet<String>()
{
{
add("set1");
add("set2");
add("set3");
}
};

doSomething(stringSets);
}

private static void doSomething(Set<String> stringSets){

System.out.println(stringSets);
}
}

In the above example, we see that the stringSets were initialized by using double
braces.
  The first brace does the task of creating an anonymous inner class that has the
capability of accessing the parent class’s behavior. In our example, we are creating
the subclass of HashSet so that it can use the add() method of HashSet.
 The second braces do the task of initializing the instances.

Care should be taken while initializing through this method as the method involves
the creation of anonymous inner classes which can cause problems during the
garbage collection or serialization processes and may also result in memory leaks.

87. Why is it said that the length() method of String class doesn't
return accurate results?

 The length method returns the number of Unicode units of the String. Let's
understand what Unicode units are and what is the confusion below.
 We know that Java uses UTF-16 for String representation. With this Unicode, we
need to understand the below two Unicode related terms:
o Code Point: This represents an integer denoting a character in the code
space.
o Code Unit: This is a bit sequence used for encoding the code points. In order
to do this, one or more units might be required for representing a code
point.
 Under the UTF-16 scheme, the code points were divided logically into 17 planes
and the first plane was called the Basic Multilingual Plane (BMP). The BMP has
classic characters - U+0000 to U+FFFF. The rest of the characters- U+10000 to
U+10FFFF were termed as the supplementary characters as they were contained in
the remaining planes.
o The code points from the first plane are encoded using one 16-bit code unit
o The code points from the remaining planes are encoded using two code
units.

Now if a string contained supplementary characters, the length function would

count that as 2 units and the result of the length() function would not be as per
what is expected.

In other words, if there is 1 supplementary character of 2 units, the length of that

SINGLE character is considered to be TWO - Notice the inaccuracy here? As per the
java documentation, it is expected, but as per the real logic, it is inaccurate.

88. What is the output of the below code and why?

public class InterviewBit{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
System.out.println('b' + 'i' + 't');
}
}
“bit” would have been the result printed if the letters were used in double-quotes
(or the string literals). But the question has the character literals (single quotes)
being used which is why concatenation wouldn't occur. The corresponding ASCII
values of each character would be added and the result of that sum would be
printed.
The ASCII values of ‘b’, ‘i’, ‘t’ are:

 ‘b’ = 98
 ‘i’ = 105
 ‘t’ = 116

98 + 105 + 116 = 319

Hence 319 would be printed.

89. What are the possible ways of making object eligible for garbage
collection (GC) in Java?

First Approach: Set the object references to null once the object creation purpose
is served.

public class IBGarbageCollect {

public static void main (String [] args){
String s1 = "Some String";
// s1 referencing String object - not yet eligible for GC
s1 = null; // now s1 is eligible for GC
}
}

Second Approach: Point the reference variable to another object. Doing this, the
object which the reference variable was referencing before becomes eligible for GC.

public class IBGarbageCollect {

public static void main(String [] args){
String s1 = "To Garbage Collect";
String s2 = "Another Object";
System.out.println(s1); // s1 is not yet eligible for GC
s1 = s2; // Point s1 to other object pointed by s2
/* Here, the string object having the content "To Garbage Collect"
is not referred by any reference variable. Therefore, it is eligible for
GC */
}
}

Third Approach: Island of Isolation Approach: When 2 reference variables pointing

to instances of the same class, and these variables refer to only each other and the
objects pointed by these 2 variables don't have any other references, then it is said
to have formed an “Island of Isolation” and these 2 objects are eligible for GC.

public class IBGarbageCollect {

IBGarbageCollect ib;
 public static void main(String [] str){
IBGarbageCollect ibgc1 = new IBGarbageCollect();
IBGarbageCollect ibgc2 = new IBGarbageCollect();
ibgc1.ib = ibgc2; //ibgc1 points to ibgc2
ibgc2.ib = ibgc1; //ibgc2 points to ibgc1
ibgc1 = null;
ibgc2 = null;
/*
* We see that ibgc1 and ibgc2 objects refer
* to only each other and have no valid
* references- these 2 objects for island of isolcation - eligible
for GC
*/
}
}

90. In the below Java Program, how many objects are eligible for
garbage collection?
class Main{
public static void main(String[] args){
int[][] num = new int[3][];
num[0] = new int[5];
num[1] = new int[2];
num[2] = new int[3];

num[2] = new int[5];

num[0] = new int[4];
num[1] = new int[3];

num = new int[2][];

}
}

In the above program, a total of 7 objects will be eligible for garbage collection.
Let’s visually understand what's happening in the code.
In the above figure on line 3, we can see that on each array index we are declaring
a new array so the reference will be of that new array on all the 3 indexes. So the
old array will be pointed to by none. So these three are eligible for garbage
collection. And on line 4, we are creating a new array object on the older reference.
So that will point to a new array and older multidimensional objects will become
eligible for garbage collection.

91. What is the best way to inject dependency? Also, state the reason.

There is no boundation for using a particular dependency injection. But the

recommended approach is -

Setters are mostly recommended for optional dependencies injection, and

constructor arguments are recommended for mandatory ones. This is because
constructor injection enables the injection of values into immutable fields and
enables reading them more easily.

92. How we can set the spring bean scope. And what supported
scopes does it have?

A scope can be set by an annotation such as the @Scope annotation or the "scope"
attribute in an XML configuration file. Spring Bean supports the following five
scopes:

 Singleton
 Prototype
 Request
 Session
 Global-session

93. What are the different categories of Java Design patterns?

Java Design patterns are categorized into the following different types. And those
are also further categorized as

Structural patterns:

 Adapter
 Bridge
 Filter
 Composite
 Decorator
 Facade
 Flyweight
 Proxy
Behavioral patterns:

 Interpreter
 Template method/ pattern
 Chain of responsibility
 Command pattern
 Iterator pattern
 Strategy pattern
 Visitor pattern

J2EE patterns:

 MVC Pattern
 Data Access Object pattern
 Front controller pattern
 Intercepting filter pattern
 Transfer object pattern

Creational patterns:

 Factory method/Template
 Abstract Factory
 Builder
 Prototype
 Singleton

94. What is a Memory Leak? Discuss some common causes of it.

The Java Garbage Collector (GC) typically removes unused objects when they are no
longer required, but when they are still referenced, the unused objects cannot be
removed. So this causes the memory leak problem. Example - Consider a linked list
like the structure below -
In the above image, there are unused objects that are not referenced. But then also
Garbage collection will not free it. Because it is referencing some existing
referenced object. So this can be the situation of memory leak.

Some common causes of Memory leaks are -

 When there are Unbounded caches.

 Excessive page swapping is done by the operating system.
 Improper written custom data structures.
 Inserting into a collection object without first deleting it.
etc.

95. Assume a thread has a lock on it, calling the sleep() method on
that thread will release the lock?

A thread that has a lock won't be released even after it calls sleep(). Despite the
thread sleeping for a specified period of time, the lock will not be released.

Java Programming Interview Questions

96. Check if a given string is palindrome using recursion.
/*
* Java program to check if a given inputted string is palindrome or not
using recursion.
*/
import java.util.*;
public class InterviewBit {
public static void main(String args[]) {
Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
String word = s.nextLine();
 System.out.println("Is "+word+" palindrome? -
"+isWordPalindrome(word));
}

public static boolean isWordPalindrome(String word){

String reverseWord = getReverseWord(word);
//if word equals its reverse, then it is a palindrome
if(word.equals(reverseWord)){
return true;
}
return false;
}

public static String getReverseWord(String word){

if(word == null || word.isEmpty()){
return word;
}

return word.charAt(word.length()- 1) +
getReverseWord(word.substring(0, word.length() - 1));
}
}

97. Write a Java Program to print Fibonacci Series using Recursion.

class InterviewBit {
public static void printFibonacci(int val_1, int val_2, int num){
//Base Case
if(num == 0)
return;

//Printing the next Fibonacci number

System.out.print( val_1 + val_2 + " ");

//Recursively calling for printing Fibonacci for remaining length

printFibonacci(val_2, val_1+val_2, --num);
}
public static void main(String args[]) {
System.out.println(" *** Fibonacci Series *** ");

//Printing the first two values

System.out.print("0 1 ");

//Calling Method to print the fibonacci for length 10

printFibonacci(0, 1, 10);
}
}

In the above code, we are printing the base 2 Fibonacci values 0 and 1. And then
based on the length of Fibonacci to be printed, we are using the helper function to
print that.

98. Write a Java program to check if the two strings are anagrams.

The main idea is to validate the length of strings and then if found equal, convert
the string to char array and then sort the arrays and check if both are equal.
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.Scanner;
public class InterviewBit {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
//Input from two strings
System.out.print("First String: ");
String string1 = s.nextLine();
System.out.print("Second String: ");
String string2 = s.nextLine();
// check for the length
if(string1.length() == string2.length()) {
// convert strings to char array
char[] characterArray1 = string1.toCharArray();
char[] characterArray2 = string2.toCharArray();
// sort the arrays
Arrays.sort(characterArray1);
Arrays.sort(characterArray2);
// check for equality, if found equal then anagram, else not an
anagram
boolean isAnagram = Arrays.equals(characterArray1, characterArray2);
System.out.println("Anagram: "+ isAnagram);
}
}

99. Write a Java Program to find the factorial of a given number.

public class FindFactorial {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int num = 10;
long factorialResult = 1l;
for(int i = 1; i <= num; ++i)
{
factorialResult *= i;
}
System.out.println("Factorial: "+factorialResult);
}
}

100. Given an array of non-duplicating numbers from 1 to n where

one number is missing, write an efficient java program to find that
missing number.

Idea is to find the sum of n natural numbers using the formula and then finding the
sum of numbers in the given array. Subtracting these two sums results in the
number that is the actual missing number. This results in O(n) time complexity and
O(1) space complexity.

public class IBMissingNumberProblem {

public static void main(String[] args) {

int[] array={4,3,8,7,5,2,6};
int missingNumber = findMissingNum(array);
System.out.println("Missing Number is "+ missingNumber);
}
 public static int findMissingNum(int[] array) {
int n=array.length+1;
int sumOfFirstNNums=n*(n+1)/2;
int actualSumOfArr=0;
for (int i = 0; i < array.length; i++) {
actualSumOfArr+=array[i];
}
return sumOfFirstNNums-actualSumOfArr;
}
}

101. Write a Java Program to check if any number is a magic number

or not. A number is said to be a magic number if after doing sum of
digits in each step and inturn doing sum of digits of that sum, the
ultimate result (when there is only one digit left) is 1.

Example, consider the number:

 Step 1: 163 => 1+6+3 = 10

 Step 2: 10 => 1+0 = 1 => Hence 163 is a magic number

public class IBMagicNumber{

public static void main(String[] args) {

int num = 163;
int sumOfDigits = 0;
while (num > 0 || sumOfDigits > 9)
{
if (num == 0)
{
num = sumOfDigits;
sumOfDigits = 0;
}
sumOfDigits += num % 10;
num /= 10;
}

// If sum is 1, original number is magic number

if(sumOfDigits == 1) {
System.out.println("Magic number");
}else {
System.out.println("Not magic number");
}
}
}

102. Write a Java program to create and throw custom exceptions.

class InterviewBit {
public static void main(String args[]) throws CustomException {

// Throwing the custom exception be passing the message

throw new CustomException(" This is my custom Exception ");
}
}
//Creating Custom Exception Class
class CustomException extends Exception{
//Defining Constructor to throw exception message
public CustomException(String message){
super(message);
}
}

We have created the exception class named with CustomException and called the
base exception constructor with the error message that we want to print. And to
avoid handling exceptions in the main method, we have used the throws keyword
in the method declaration.

103. Write a Java program to reverse a string.

class InterviewBit{
public static void main(String[] args){
//Input String
String str = "Welcome to InterviewBit";

//Pointers.
int i = 0, j = str.length()-1;

//Result character array to store the reversed string.

char[] revString = new char[j+1];

//Looping and reversing the string.

while(i < j){
revString[j] = str.charAt(i);
revString[i] = str.charAt(j);
i++;
j--;
}
//Printing the reversed String.
System.out.println("Reversed String = " +
String.valueOf(revString));
}
}

In the above code, we are storing the last character from the string to the first and
the first value to the last in the output character array. And doing the same thing in
the loop for the remaining 2nd to n-1 characters. This is how the string will be
reversed.

104. Write a Java program to rotate arrays 90 degree clockwise by

taking matrices from user input.
mport java.util.Scanner;
public class InterviewBit
{
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
int no;
System.out.print("Enter size of Array : ");
no = sc.nextInt();
 int[][] a = new int[no][no];
System.out.print("Enter "+ no*no+" Element Array : ");

for(int i = 0; i<no; i++){

for(int j = 0; j<no; j++){
a[i][j] = sc.nextInt();
}
}
System.out.print("\nArray Before Rotation\n\n");
for(int i = 0; i<no; i++){
for(int j = 0; j<no; j++){
System.out.print(a[i][j] + " ");
}
System.out.println();
}

System.out.println("\n");
//Rotation

//Transpose
for(int i = 0; i < no; i++){
for(int j = i; j < no; j++){
int temp = a[i][j];
a[i][j] = a[j][i];
a[j][i] = temp;
}
}

//Reverse Each row

for(int i = 0; i < no; i++){
int l, j;
for(j = 0, l = no -1; j < l; j++){
int temp = a[i][j];
a[i][j] = a[i][l];
a[i][l] = temp;
l--;
}
}

System.out.println("Array After Rotation - \n");

for(int i = 0; i<no; i++){

for(int j = 0; j<no; j++){
System.out.print(a[i][j] + " ");
}
System.out.println();
}
}
}