Top 100 Python Interview Questions for Data Analyst

🔹 Python Fundamentals
1. What are Python's key features?​
Python is interpreted, dynamically typed, high-level, portable, open-source, object-oriented, and
has rich standard libraries.

2. What are Python data types?​

Common types include: int, float, str, bool, list, tuple, set, dict, and NoneType.

3. Difference between list, tuple, set, and dictionary?

●​ List: ordered, mutable​

●​ Tuple: ordered, immutable​

●​ Set: unordered, no duplicates​

●​ Dict: key-value pairs, ordered from Python 3.7+​

4. What is the difference between is and ==?​

== compares values, is checks object identity (memory location).

5. What is PEP8?​
PEP8 is Python’s official style guide for writing readable code.

**6. What are *args and kwargs?​

*args passes variable-length positional arguments; **kwargs passes variable-length
keyword arguments.

7. What are Python scopes?​

Local, Enclosing, Global, Built-in (LEGB rule).

8. Difference between shallow and deep copy?​

Shallow copy copies references; deep copy copies all nested objects.

9. What are lambda functions?​

Anonymous, inline functions defined using the lambda keyword.

10. How to handle exceptions in Python?​

Using try, except, else, and finally blocks.
11. What is the use of the with statement?​
Manages resources like files, automatically closes them.

12. Difference between break, continue, and pass?

●​ break: exits loop​

●​ continue: skips to next iteration​

●​ pass: does nothing (placeholder)​

13. What is list comprehension?​

Compact syntax for creating lists: [x for x in iterable if condition].

14. What is the difference between mutable and immutable types?​

Mutable types (like lists) can be changed; immutable types (like tuples) cannot.

15. Explain Python memory management.​

Managed by reference counting and garbage collection via the gc module.

🔹 Data Structures & Algorithms

16. What are iterators and generators?​
Iterators use __iter__() and __next__(); generators yield values lazily using yield.

17. Difference between a function and a method?​

Function: independent; Method: bound to an object/class.

18. How do you reverse a list?​

Using list[::-1], list.reverse(), or reversed(list).

19. How to remove duplicates from a list?​

Use set(list) or a loop to preserve order.

20. What are modules and packages?​

Module: .py file; Package: folder with __init__.py.

21. What are decorators?​

Functions that modify the behavior of other functions using @decorator.
22. How to merge two dictionaries?​
{**dict1, **dict2} or dict1.update(dict2).

23. Difference between sorted() and .sort()?​

sorted() returns a new list; .sort() modifies in place.

24. How to check if a key exists in a dictionary?​

Using 'key' in dict.

25. Difference between list and array in Python?​

Lists are general-purpose; arrays (from NumPy) are optimized for numerical data.

26. What are comprehensions in Python?​

Concise syntax to create lists, sets, or dicts.

27. Difference between enumerate() and range()?​

range() gives indices; enumerate() gives index-value pairs.

28. What is zip()?​

Combines multiple iterables into tuples.

29. What are map(), filter(), and reduce()?

●​ map: applies a function to all items​

●​ filter: filters items by condition​

●​ reduce: performs cumulative operation (from functools)​

30. What do globals() and locals() return?​

Dictionaries of global and local variables.

31. Difference between id() and type()?​

id() gives memory address; type() gives the data type.

32. What are docstrings?​

Triple-quoted strings used to document functions, classes, modules.

33. Purpose of __init__()?​

Constructor method in classes to initialize attributes.

34. What are magic methods?​

Special methods like __str__, __len__, __add__ used for operator overloading.
35. Why use if __name__ == "__main__"?​
To ensure code runs only when the script is executed directly.

🔹 Pandas & NumPy

36. What is Pandas?​
A Python library for data manipulation and analysis using DataFrames.

37. Difference between Series and DataFrame?​

Series: 1D labeled array; DataFrame: 2D labeled data structure.

38. How to read a CSV file?​

pd.read_csv('filename.csv')

39. How to check for null values?​

df.isnull() or df.isnull().sum()

40. How to drop missing values?​

df.dropna()

41. How to fill missing values?​

df.fillna(value) or df.fillna(method='ffill')

42. How to filter rows in Pandas?​

df[df['column'] > 10]

43. Apply a function to a column?​

df['column'].apply(func)

44. How to sort a DataFrame?​

df.sort_values(by='column')

45. How to group data?​

df.groupby('column').agg() or .mean() etc.

46. How to merge DataFrames?​

Using pd.merge(df1, df2, on='column')

47. Difference between merge() and join()?​

merge() is more flexible with keys and options.

48. How to remove duplicates?​

df.drop_duplicates()
49. What is NumPy?​
A library for numerical computations with fast array processing.

50. What are NumPy arrays?​

Multidimensional, efficient arrays for numerical operations.

51. How to create NumPy arrays?​

np.array(), np.zeros(), np.arange()

52. How to reshape arrays?​

array.reshape(rows, cols)

53. Difference between view and copy?​

View shares data; copy creates a new independent object.

54. What is broadcasting in NumPy?​

Automatic expansion of arrays for operations on different shapes.

55. How to calculate mean/median/std?​

Use np.mean(), np.median(), and np.std()

🔹 Scenario-Based & Problem Solving

56. How to find duplicate rows in DataFrame?​
df[df.duplicated()]

57. How to remove outliers using IQR?

python
CopyEdit
Q1 = df.quantile(0.25)
Q3 = df.quantile(0.75)
IQR = Q3 - Q1
df = df[~((df < (Q1 - 1.5 * IQR)) | (df > (Q3 + 1.5 *
IQR))).any(axis=1)]

58. Write a function to calculate factorial.

python
CopyEdit
def factorial(n): return 1 if n == 0 else n * factorial(n - 1)
59. Count missing values per column?​
df.isnull().sum()

60. Convert string column to datetime?​

df['date'] = pd.to_datetime(df['date'])

61. Drop rows with null values?​

df.dropna()

62. How to create a pivot table?​

pd.pivot_table(df, values='value', index='row', columns='column')

63. Convert column to category type?​

df['col'] = df['col'].astype('category')

64. Sort DataFrame by multiple columns?​

df.sort_values(by=['col1', 'col2'], ascending=[True, False])

65. Count word frequency in a sentence?

python
CopyEdit
from collections import Counter
Counter(text.split())

66. How to calculate correlation matrix?​

df.corr()

67. Create dummy variables?​

pd.get_dummies(df['category_column'])

68. Random sample from DataFrame?​

df.sample(frac=0.1)

69. Create a conditional column?​

df['new'] = np.where(df['col'] > 10, 'High', 'Low')

70. How to melt a DataFrame?​

pd.melt(df, id_vars=['id'])
🔹 Advanced
71. Difference between Python 2 and 3?​
Python 3 uses print() function, handles Unicode by default, and has different integer division
rules.

72. How to measure code execution time?​

Use time.time() or timeit module.

73. What is virtualenv?​

Tool to create isolated Python environments.

74. How to handle large datasets in Pandas?​

Use read_csv(chunksize=...), Dask, or PySpark.

75. How to use logging in Python?​

Using the built-in logging module.

76. What is GIL?​

Global Interpreter Lock – allows only one thread to execute at a time in CPython.

77. Threading vs Multiprocessing?​

Threading is for I/O-bound tasks; multiprocessing for CPU-bound tasks.

78. JSON vs Pickle?​

JSON is human-readable; Pickle is faster but Python-specific.

79. How to consume an API in Python?​

Using requests.get(url).json()

80. How to export a DataFrame?​

df.to_csv('file.csv') or df.to_excel('file.xlsx')
🧠 Additional Problem-Based Questions for Data Analyst
Interviews
81. Write a Python function to check if a string is a palindrome.

def is_palindrome(s):

return s == s[::-1]

82. Write code to find the most frequent element in a list.

from collections import Counter

def most_frequent(lst):

return Counter(lst).most_common(1)[0][0]

83. Given a list of numbers, return a list with only the even numbers.

def filter_even(lst):

return [x for x in lst if x % 2 == 0]

84. Write a Python function to merge two dictionaries.

def merge_dicts(d1, d2):

return {**d1, **d2}

85. Write a function to reverse words in a sentence.

def reverse_words(sentence):

return ' '.join(sentence.split()[::-1])

86. Write a Python program to find the second highest number in a list.

def second_highest(lst):

return sorted(set(lst))[-2]

87. Write a function to remove punctuation from a string.

import string
def remove_punctuation(text):

return text.translate(str.maketrans('', '', string.punctuation))

88. Count the number of vowels in a string.

def count_vowels(s):

return sum(1 for char in s if char.lower() in 'aeiou')

89. How to flatten a nested list in Python?

def flatten(lst):

return [item for sublist in lst for item in sublist]

90. How would you group a DataFrame by a column and get the mean of each group?

df.groupby('column').mean()

91. Write a function to find all prime numbers less than N.

def primes_less_than(n):

return [x for x in range(2, n) if all(x % d != 0 for d in range(2,

int(x**0.5)+1))]

92. How to rename multiple columns in a DataFrame?

df.rename(columns={'old1': 'new1', 'old2': 'new2'}, inplace=True)

93. Write a Python function to check if a year is a leap year.

def is_leap(year):

return year % 4 == 0 and (year % 100 != 0 or year % 400 == 0)

94. Find common elements in two lists.

def common_elements(a, b):

return list(set(a) & set(b))

95. Convert a list of dictionaries to a DataFrame.

import pandas as pd
df = pd.DataFrame([{'a': 1, 'b': 2}, {'a': 3, 'b': 4}])

96. How to drop duplicate rows based on specific columns?

df.drop_duplicates(subset=['col1', 'col2'], inplace=True)

97. Write a program to find the longest word in a sentence.

def longest_word(sentence):

return max(sentence.split(), key=len)

98. How to read only specific columns from a CSV using pandas?

pd.read_csv('file.csv', usecols=['col1', 'col2'])

99. Calculate the correlation matrix of a DataFrame.

df.corr()

100. Write a Python function to generate Fibonacci series up to N terms.

def fibonacci(n):

a, b = 0, 1

for _ in range(n):

print(a, end=' ')

a, b = b, a + b