Scribd
Upload
7 views

Backend Developer

The document outlines essential topics for preparing for a backend developer interview focused on Java and Spring Boot, including core Java concepts, design patterns, Spring framework, RESTful web services, security, databases, microservices architecture, testing, performance, scalability, and DevOps practices. It emphasizes the importance of hands-on experience and tailoring preparation based on specific job descriptions. Candidates are encouraged to build small projects and practice coding interviews to enhance their skills.

Uploaded by

Sneha Mahamuni
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
7 views

Backend Developer

The document outlines essential topics for preparing for a backend developer interview focused on Java and Spring Boot, including core Java concepts, design patterns, Spring framework, RESTful web services, security, databases, microservices architecture, testing, performance, scalability, and DevOps practices. It emphasizes the importance of hands-on experience and tailoring preparation based on specific job descriptions. Candidates are encouraged to build small projects and practice coding interviews to enhance their skills.

Uploaded by

Sneha Mahamuni
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 6

If you’re preparing for a backend developer interview that requires Java

and Spring Boot knowledge, you'll need to focus on a variety of topics.


These topics will cover both fundamental programming concepts and the
specific skills required to develop and maintain backend applications using
Spring Boot and related Java technologies. Below is a comprehensive list
of topics you should focus on:

1. Core Java Concepts

You should have a solid understanding of the core Java language features.
This includes:

 Basic Syntax & Data Types: Understanding variables, data types,


operators, control structures (if-else, loops), etc.

 Object-Oriented Programming (OOP):

o Classes & Objects: Understanding constructors, method


overloading, inheritance, encapsulation, polymorphism, and
abstraction.

o Interfaces & Abstract Classes: When to use interfaces vs


abstract classes.

o Encapsulation, Inheritance, and Polymorphism.

 Collections Framework:

o Working with List, Set, Map, Queue interfaces and their


implementations (e.g., ArrayList, HashMap, HashSet).

o Sorting and searching algorithms (e.g., Collections.sort(),


Comparable and Comparator interfaces).

o Streams API: Filtering, mapping, reducing data using Java


streams (Stream, Collectors).

 Concurrency:

o Threads, synchronization, ExecutorService, Callable, Future,


thread-safe collections, and Java concurrency utilities.

o Locks: ReentrantLock, ReadWriteLock, etc.

o Deadlocks and Thread Pooling.

 Exception Handling:

o Try-catch-finally blocks, custom exceptions, and best practices


for exception handling.
2. Java Design Patterns

Familiarize yourself with common design patterns and when to use them,
such as:

 Singleton, Factory, Abstract Factory, Builder.

 Observer, Strategy, Command, Decorator.

 Dependency Injection (DI) and Inversion of Control (IoC)


principles.

3. Spring Framework (Core and Spring Boot)

Since you’re preparing for Spring Boot-related interviews, it’s crucial to


focus on Spring Core and Spring Boot topics.

Spring Core

 Spring Dependency Injection (DI):

o @Autowired, @Component, @Service, @Repository, and


@Controller annotations.

o Constructor Injection vs Setter Injection.

o Bean Scopes: Singleton, Prototype, Request, Session, etc.

o ApplicationContext and BeanFactory.

 Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP):

o @Aspect annotation, @Before, @After, @Around, and


@AfterReturning.

o Use of AOP for cross-cutting concerns like logging and


transaction management.

 Spring Configuration:

o Java-based configuration using @Configuration and XML-


based configuration (though XML is less common in modern
Spring projects).

Spring Boot

 Introduction to Spring Boot: Purpose, advantages, and how it


simplifies Spring application setup.
 Auto Configuration: Understanding how Spring Boot automatically
configures beans based on classpath and properties.

 Spring Boot Starters: Use of pre-configured starter dependencies


for various tasks (e.g., spring-boot-starter-web, spring-boot-starter-
data-jpa, spring-boot-starter-security).

 Embedded Servers: Use of embedded Tomcat, Jetty, or


Undertow for running Spring Boot applications.

 Spring Boot Profiles: Using @Profile for environment-specific


configurations.

 Spring Boot Actuator: Health checks, metrics, and monitoring


endpoints.

 Spring Boot Testing:

o Writing unit and integration tests with Spring Boot Test


(@SpringBootTest, @MockBean, @WebMvcTest, etc.).

4. Spring Data and Persistence

 JPA (Java Persistence API) and Hibernate:

o Entity mapping using @Entity, @Id, @GeneratedValue,


@Column, etc.

o Repository Layer: Using JpaRepository and


CrudRepository to manage CRUD operations.

o Query Methods and Custom Queries with JPQL or native


SQL.

o Transactions: Using @Transactional for managing


transactions.

o Lazy vs Eager Loading and understanding the N+1 Query


Problem.

5. RESTful Web Services with Spring Boot

Since backend APIs are often built using REST principles, make sure to
understand:

 REST Principles: Statelessness, resource-based, client-server


architecture.
 Spring MVC and REST Controllers:

o @RestController and @RequestMapping, @GetMapping,


@PostMapping, @PutMapping, @DeleteMapping
annotations.

o RequestBody and ResponseBody for handling request and


response bodies.

 Path Variables and Request Parameters: Extracting values from


URLs and query parameters.

 Spring HATEOAS: For adding hypermedia links to your REST API


responses.

 Spring Security: Basic security mechanisms such as JWT, OAuth2,


or session-based authentication in REST APIs.

 Validation: Using @Valid and @NotNull, @Size annotations for


validating incoming request data.

 Pagination and Sorting in REST APIs: Efficiently returning large


datasets in chunks using Pageable and Sort.

6. Security

Security is a critical aspect of backend development, so be sure to cover:

 Authentication & Authorization using Spring Security:

o JWT Authentication, OAuth2, Basic Auth, and Role-based


access control.

 CSRF Protection, CORS, Session Management.

 Password Encoding: Using BCrypt or PBKDF2.

7. Database and Caching

 SQL Databases: Understanding how to work with relational


databases (e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle) using JPA and
Hibernate.

 NoSQL Databases: Familiarity with databases like MongoDB or


Redis for caching and NoSQL data storage.

 Caching: Implementing caching with Spring Cache abstraction or


Redis for performance improvement.
 Database Migrations: Using Flyway or Liquibase for database
versioning and migrations.

8. Microservices Architecture

 Spring Cloud for building and managing microservices:

o Spring Cloud Config for centralized configuration


management.

o Spring Cloud Eureka for service discovery.

o Spring Cloud Gateway or Zuul for API Gateway


functionality.

o Spring Cloud Circuit Breaker (Hystrix) for fault tolerance.

 Event-Driven Architecture with Spring Kafka or RabbitMQ.

9. Testing

 Unit Testing with JUnit:

o Writing effective unit tests with Mockito for mocking


dependencies.

 Integration Testing:

o Using @SpringBootTest, @WebMvcTest, and


@DataJpaTest annotations for testing different layers of the
application (e.g., web layer, database layer).

 Test Coverage: Using tools like Jacoco to measure test coverage.

10. Performance and Scalability

 Profiling and Monitoring: Using Spring Boot Actuator and tools


like Prometheus and Grafana to monitor application health and
performance.

 Load Testing: Using tools like JMeter to test the API's scalability.

 Concurrency and Threading: Ensuring that your application can


handle multiple requests concurrently without performance
degradation.
11. DevOps and Deployment

 Docker: Containerizing Spring Boot applications for consistent


deployment across environments.

 CI/CD: Understanding Continuous Integration/Continuous


Deployment pipelines (e.g., using Jenkins, GitLab CI, or GitHub
Actions).

 Kubernetes: Basic knowledge of deploying applications in


Kubernetes clusters.

Final Thoughts

The topics listed above represent a comprehensive coverage of the skills


typically required for a Java backend developer role using Spring Boot.
However, keep in mind that different companies may focus on certain
aspects more than others, so it’s a good idea to tailor your preparation
based on the job description and the type of project you will be working
on. Additionally, hands-on experience is crucial, so try to build small
projects to apply the concepts you learn and practice coding interviews to
prepare for algorithmic challenges.

You might also like