TECHNICAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

JAVA

1. **What is Java?**
- Java is a high-level, object-oriented programming language designed to have as few
implementation dependencies as possible.

2. **What are the main features of Java?**

- Platform-independent, object-oriented, secure, robust, multithreaded, and high
performance.

3. **What is the JVM?**

- The Java Virtual Machine (JVM) is an engine that provides a runtime environment to
execute Java bytecode.

4. **What are JDK and JRE?**

- JDK (Java Development Kit) is a software development kit for Java, while JRE (Java
Runtime Environment) provides the libraries, Java Virtual Machine (JVM), and other
components to run applications written in Java.

5. **What are Java's access speci ers?**

- `public`, `protected`, `default` (package-private), and `private`.

6. **What is garbage collection in Java?**

- The process by which the JVM automatically removes unused objects from memory to
free up resources.

7. **What is the nalize() method?**

- A method called by the garbage collector on an object when garbage collection
determines that there are no more references to the object.

8. **What are the types of memory areas allocated by JVM?**

- Heap, Stack, Method Area, Program Counter Register, and Native Method Stack.
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 9. **What is the di erence between an interface and an abstract class?**
- An interface can have only abstract methods and static nal variables, while an
abstract class can have both abstract and concrete methods.

10. **How do ArrayList, LinkedList, HashMap, HashSet, TreeMap, and TreeSet di er?**
- `ArrayList`: Resizable array implementation.
- `LinkedList`: Doubly linked list implementation.
- `HashMap`: Hash table-based implementation.
- `HashSet`: Hash table-based set.
- `TreeMap`: Red-Black tree-based map.
- `TreeSet`: Red-Black tree-based set.

11. **How does the HashMap work internally?**

- Uses an array of buckets where each bucket is a linked list; the key's hash code
determines the bucket.

12. **What are the di erences between fail-fast and fail-safe iterators?**
- Fail-fast: Immediately throws `ConcurrentModi cationException` if the collection is
modi ed.
- Fail-safe: Works on a copy of the collection, allowing modi cations without exception.

13. **What is multithreading in Java?**

- The ability of a CPU or a single core in a multi-core processor to execute multiple
threads concurrently.

14. **What are the di erent ways to create a thread in Java?**

- Extending `Thread` class or implementing `Runnable` interface.

15. **What is synchronization in Java?**

- A mechanism that ensures that only one thread can access a resource at a time.

16. **What is a deadlock in Java?**

- A condition where two or more threads are blocked forever, each waiting for the other
to release a resource.
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 17. **What are thread-safe collections in Java?**
- Collections like `ConcurrentHashMap`, `CopyOnWriteArrayList`, and
`CopyOnWriteArraySet` that are designed to be safely used by multiple threads.

18. **What are threads, and how are they di erent from processes?**
- Threads are the smallest unit of execution within a process, while processes are
instances of programs that can contain multiple threads.

19. **Explain synchronized, volatile, wait(), notify(), and notifyAll().**

- `synchronized`: Prevents concurrent access.
- `volatile`: Ensures visibility of changes to variables across threads.
- `wait()`: Causes the current thread to wait until another thread invokes `notify()` or
`notifyAll()`.
- `notify()`: Wakes up one waiting thread.
- `notifyAll()`: Wakes up all waiting threads.

20. **What are thread pools, and how do you create them using the ExecutorService?**
- A thread pool reuses a xed number of threads to execute tasks, created using
`Executors.newFixedThreadPool()`, `newCachedThreadPool()`, etc.

21. **What are checked and unchecked exceptions?**

- Checked: Checked at compile-time (e.g., `IOException`).
- Unchecked: Checked at runtime (e.g., `NullPointerException`).

22. **How does the try-catch- nally block work?**

- `try`: Contains code that might throw an exception.
- `catch`: Catches and handles exceptions.
- ` nally`: Executes code regardless of whether an exception was thrown.

23. **What is the di erence between throw and throws?**

- `throw`: Used to explicitly throw an exception.
- `throws`: Declares that a method might throw an exception.

24. **Explain the Java memory model.**

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 - Speci es how the Java virtual machine works with computer memory (RAM) and
ensures visibility of memory operations across threads.

25. **What is garbage collection, and how does it work?**

- The process of automatically detecting and freeing up memory that is no longer in use
by the application.

26. **What are strong, weak, soft, and phantom references?**

- `Strong`: Default reference type.
- `Weak`: Doesn't prevent garbage collection.
- `Soft`: Collected only when memory is low.
- `Phantom`: Used to track object nalization.

27. **Explain lambda expressions and functional interfaces in Java 8.**

- Lambda expressions: Shorter syntax for anonymous classes.
- Functional interfaces: Interfaces with a single abstract method (e.g., `Runnable`).

28. **What are streams in Java 8, and how do you use them?**
- Streams: Enable functional-style operations on sequences of elements.
- Used for processing collections through a pipeline of operations like ` lter()`, `map()`,
and `collect()`.

29. **How do Optional and the new date/time API work in Java 8?**
- `Optional`: Container object used to avoid null checks.
- New date/time API: Provides a comprehensive date/time handling with `LocalDate`,
`LocalTime`, `ZonedDateTime`, etc.

30. **What are the Singleton, Factory, Builder, and Observer design patterns?**
- Singleton: Ensures a class has only one instance.
- Factory: Creates objects without specifying the exact class.
- Builder: Simpli es object creation with complex constructors.
- Observer: Allows an object to notify observers of state changes.

31. **When would you use Dependency Injection?**

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 - To decouple the creation of dependencies from the use of an object, promoting better
modularity and testability.

32. **Explain the JVM architecture.**

- Consists of class loader, runtime data areas, execution engine, and native interface.

33. **What are the di erent types of class loaders?**

- Bootstrap, Extension, System/Application, and custom class loaders.

34. **How does the Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler work?**

- Converts bytecode into native machine code at runtime for improved performance.

35. **What are the di erences between Java IO and NIO?**

- IO: Stream-oriented, blocking.
- NIO: Bu er-oriented, non-blocking, more e cient for high-volume data.

36. **Explain the use of bu ers and channels in NIO.**

- Bu ers: Containers for data.
- Channels: Connections to data sources or destinations.

37. **How do you implement serialization and deserialization in Java?**

- Using `Serializable` interface and `ObjectInputStream`/`ObjectOutputStream`.

38. **What are the di erent types of references in Java?**

- Strong, Weak, Soft, and Phantom references.

39. **How does the Java Stream API work, and what are its bene ts?**
- Provides a functional approach to processing sequences of elements, o ering
bene ts like parallel processing and concise code.

40. **What is the di erence between an interface and an abstract class?**

- Same as question 9, interfaces have only abstract methods and constants, whereas
abstract classes can have both abstract and concrete methods.
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 PYTHON
1. **How do you handle exceptions in Python?**
- Using `try`, `except`, `else`, and ` nally` blocks.

2. **How do you create a dictionary in Python?**

- Using curly braces `{}` or the `dict()` function.

3. **What is web scraping? How do you perform web scraping in Python?**

- Extracting data from websites. Using libraries like BeautifulSoup, Scrapy, or Selenium.

4. **What is a set in Python? How is it di erent from a list?**

- A collection of unique elements, unordered and unindexed. Lists are ordered and can
contain duplicate elements.

5. **Explain the use of NumPy in Python.**

- Provides support for large multi-dimensional arrays and matrices, along with a
collection of mathematical functions to operate on them.

6. **Explain the di erence between lists and tuples.**

- Lists are mutable, tuples are immutable.

7. **What is the time complexity of basic list operations like `append`, `pop`, etc.?**
- `append`: O(1), `pop`: O(1) for the last element, O(n) for the rst element.

8. **How do you optimize Python code for performance?**

- Using e cient algorithms and data structures, pro ling code with tools like `cPro le`,
and using libraries like NumPy for heavy computations.

9. **Explain the concept of REST APIs. How do you create one in Python?**
- REST APIs use HTTP requests for CRUD operations. Created using frameworks like
Flask or Django REST framework.

10. **What is the di erence between `__init__` and `__new__` methods in Python?**
- `__init__`: Initializes a new instance of a class. `__new__`: Creates a new instance of a
class.
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 11. **How do you perform data visualization in Python? Name some libraries.**
- Using libraries like Matplotlib, Seaborn, Plotly, and Bokeh.

12. **What is the purpose of `if __name__ == '__main__'`?**

- To ensure that code block runs only if the script is executed directly, not when
imported as a module.

13. **What are lambda functions? How are they used?**

- Anonymous functions de ned with `lambda` keyword. Used for short, throwaway
functions.

14. **What is Django? Explain its architecture.**

- A high-level web framework for rapid development. Follows MVT (Model-View-
Template) architecture.

15. **Explain the concept of a linked list. How do you implement it in Python?**
- A data structure consisting of nodes, each containing data and a reference to the next
node. Implemented using classes.

16. **What are Python's built-in libraries for data analysis and scienti c computing?**
- NumPy, Pandas, SciPy, and Matplotlib.

17. **What are Python's built-in data structures?**

- Lists, tuples, sets, dictionaries.

18. **What are decorators in Python?**

- Functions that modify the behavior of other functions or methods.

19. **What are Python's built-in data types?**

- int, oat, str, list, tuple, set, dict, bool, NoneType.

20. **Explain the di erence between `is` and `==` operators.**

- `is`: Checks for object identity. `==`: Checks for value equality.
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21. **How do you create a virtual environment in Python?**
- Using `venv` module: `python -m venv env_name`.

22. **Explain the use of `super()` function in inheritance.**

- Calls a method from the parent class.

23. **What is Pandas library used for? (Name 5 functions of pandas)**

- Data manipulation and analysis. Functions: `read_csv()`, `DataFrame()`, `merge()`,
`groupby()`, `pivot_table()`.

24. **What are modules and packages in Python?**

- Modules: Single Python les. Packages: Directories of Python modules.

25. **Explain the use of `self` in Python classes.**

- Refers to the instance of the class. Used to access class attributes and methods.

26. **What is a list comprehension? Give an example.**

- Concise way to create lists. Example: `[x for x in range(10) if x % 2 == 0]`.

27. **What are generators in Python? How do they work?**

- Functions that yield items one at a time using `yield` keyword. More memory e cient
for large sequences.

28. **What is TensorFlow? How is it used in Python?**

- Open-source machine learning library. Used for building and training neural networks.

29. **What is Python? What are its key features?**

- A high-level, interpreted language known for its readability and versatility. Key
features: simple syntax, dynamic typing, rich standard library.

30. **What is Flask? How is it di erent from Django?**

- A lightweight web framework. Flask is minimal and exible, whereas Django is full-
featured and follows the "batteries-included" philosophy.
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 C++
1. **What is the use of the `inline` keyword in C++?**
- Suggests to the compiler to insert the function's body at the point of call to reduce
function call overhead.

2. **Explain the diamond problem in C++.**

- Occurs in multiple inheritance when two classes inherit from the same base class and
are then inherited by a fourth class, causing ambiguity.

3. **What is a friend function in C++?**

- A function declared with the `friend` keyword inside a class, allowing it to access the
class’s private and protected members.

4. **What is the di erence between `struct` and `class` in C++?**

- By default, `struct` members are public, while `class` members are private.

5. **What is the di erence between `delete` and `delete[]` in C++?**

- `delete` frees memory allocated for a single object, while `delete[]` frees memory
allocated for an array of objects.

6. **What are preprocessor directives in C++?**

- Instructions that are processed by the preprocessor before compilation (e.g.,
`#include`, `#de ne`).

7. **What is the purpose of the `explicit` keyword in C++?**

- Prevents implicit conversions and copy-initialization for constructors.

8. **Explain the concept of "deep copy" and "shallow copy" in C++.**

- Shallow copy: Copies object references. Deep copy: Copies actual data, creating
distinct objects.

9. **What is the use of the `namespace` keyword in C++?**

- De nes a scope to avoid name collisions by grouping related classes, functions, and
variables.
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10. **What is a static member in C++?**
- A class member that is shared among all instances of the class and belongs to the
class rather than any object instance.

11. **What is the di erence between `malloc()` and `new` in C++?**

- `malloc()`: Allocates memory without calling constructors. `new`: Allocates memory
and calls constructors.

12. **What is a constructor in C++?**

- A special member function that initializes objects of a class.

13. **Explain the di erences between C and C++.**

- C++ supports object-oriented programming, function overloading, and additional
features like classes, whereas C is procedural.

14. **What is a virtual function in C++?**

- A function declared with the `virtual` keyword to allow derived classes to override it.

15. **What is a template in C++?**

- A feature that allows writing generic and reusable code for functions and classes.

16. **What are access speci ers in C++?**

- Keywords that de ne the access control for class members: `public`, `protected`, and
`private`.

17. **What is a move constructor in C++?**

- A constructor that transfers resources from a temporary object (rvalue) to a new
object.

18. **What is a destructor in C++?**

- A special member function called when an object goes out of scope or is deleted,
used to release resources.
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 19. **What are the di erences between pointers and references in C++?**
- Pointers can be reassigned and are nullable. References are aliases that must be
initialized when declared and cannot be null.

20. **How is exception handling implemented in C++?**

- Using `try`, `catch`, and `throw` blocks.

21. **What is a class and an object in C++?**

- A class is a blueprint for objects. An object is an instance of a class.

22. **What is the purpose of the `typedef` keyword in C++?**

- Creates an alias for an existing type.

23. **Explain the use of smart pointers in C++.**

- Provides automatic memory management to avoid memory leaks and dangling
pointers, using classes like `std::unique_ptr`, `std::shared_ptr`, and `std::weak_ptr`.

24. **What are virtual destructors in C++?**

- Destructors declared with `virtual` keyword to ensure derived class destructors are
called when an object is deleted through a base class pointer.

25. **What is dynamic memory allocation in C++?**

- Allocating memory at runtime using `new` and `delete`.

26. **What are rvalue references in C++?**

- References that can bind to temporary objects (rvalues) to enable move semantics
and e cient resource management.

27. **What is the purpose of the `std` namespace?**

- Contains all the standard C++ library classes, objects, and functions.

28. **What is the use of the `mutable` keyword in C++?**

- Allows a member of an object to be modi ed even if the object is `const`.
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 29. **What is the di erence between stack and heap?**
- Stack: Memory allocation for static storage duration and function calls, with
automatic deallocation. Heap: Dynamic memory allocation, requiring manual deallocation.

30. **What is the signi cance of the `this` pointer in C++?**

- Refers to the current object instance within a class method.

31. **What are the uses of the `const` keyword in C++?**

- To de ne constants, prevent modi cation of variables, specify member functions that
do not modify the object, and ensure parameters are not altered.

32. **Explain memory leaks in C++ and how to avoid them.**

- Memory allocated dynamically but not freed leads to memory leaks. Avoid by properly
using `delete` or smart pointers.

33. **How does C++ handle memory management di erently than Java?**
- C++ requires explicit memory management using `new` and `delete`, while Java uses
automatic garbage collection.

34. **What is a copy constructor in C++?**

- A constructor that creates a new object as a copy of an existing object.

35. **What is the Standard Template Library (STL) in C++?**

- A collection of template classes and functions for data structures and algorithms,
such as vectors, lists, queues, and iterators.
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