American Express Data Analyst
Interview Questions
(0-3 Years)
15-17 LPA
Python Questions
1. What is the difference between a list, tuple, set, and dictionary
in Python?
List: Ordered, mutable, allows duplicates. Example: [1, 2, 3]
Tuple: Ordered, immutable, allows duplicates. Example: (1, 2, 3)
Set: Unordered, mutable, no duplicates. Example: {1, 2, 3}
Dictionary: Key-value pairs, unordered (ordered as of Python 3.7+), mutable. Example:
{'a': 1, 'b': 2}
2. How is memory managed in Python?
Uses private heap space.
Memory allocation is done by the Python memory manager.
Automatic garbage collection via gc module to manage unreferenced objects.
3. Explain Python’s GIL (Global Interpreter Lock).
Ensures only one thread executes Python bytecode at a time.
Simplifies memory management.
Limits true parallelism in multi-threaded CPU-bound tasks.
4. What are *args and kwargs in Python?
*args = non-keyword variable-length arguments (tuple).
**kwargs = keyword variable-length arguments (dict).
def demo(*args, **kwargs):
print(args)
print(kwargs)
5. What is list comprehension? Write a one-liner to flatten
a 2D list.
Concise way to create lists using [expression for item in iterable].
Flatten 2D list: [item for sublist in matrix for item in sublist]
6. How is exception handling done in Python?
try:
x = 10 / 0
except ZeroDivisionError as e:
print("Error:", e)
finally:
print("Cleanup done")
try: risky code
except: handles errors
finally: runs always
7. What are decorators in Python?
def decorator(func):
def wrapper():
print("Before function")
func()
print("After function")
return wrapper
@decorator
def greet():
print("Hello")Modify function behavior without changing code.
8. What is a lambda function?
Anonymous one-liner function.
add = lambda x, y: x + y
Used in map(), filter(), sorted().
try:
x = 10 / 0
except ZeroDivisionError as e:
print("Error:", e)
finally:
print("Cleanup done")
try: risky code
except: handles errors
finally: runs always
9. What are generators? How is yield used?
Return iterator using yield. Saves memory.
def count():
for i in range(5):
yield i
10. What are generators? How is yield used?
Shallow Copy: New object, references old nested objects.
Deep Copy: Full independent copy.
import copy
shallow = copy.copy(obj)
deep = copy.deepcopy(obj)
11. Handling missing values in pandas
df.isnull().sum()
df.fillna(0)
df.dropna()
12. Difference between .loc[] and .iloc[]
.loc[]: label-based
.iloc[]: index-based
df.loc["row_label", "col_label"]
df.iloc[2, 3]
13. Group by region and get average sales
df.groupby('region')['sales'].mean()
14. Merge datasets on multiple keys
pd.merge(df1, df2, on=['id', 'date'], how='inner')
15. Explain the difference between UNION and UNION ALL.
Q1 = df['value'].quantile(0.25)
Q3 = df['value'].quantile(0.75)
IQR = Q3 - Q1
outliers = df[(df['value'] < Q1 - 1.5*IQR) | (df['value'] > Q3 + 1.5*IQR)]
16. Broadcasting in NumPy
import numpy as np
arr = np.array([[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6]])
arr + 10
Adds 10 to each element without looping.
17. Matrix multiplication
np.dot(A, B)
# or
A@B
18. Difference: array(), zeros(), **linspace()
np.array([1,2,3]) # from list
np.zeros((2,2)) # matrix of zeros
np.linspace(0, 1, 5) # [0. , 0.25, 0.5 , 0.75, 1. ]
19. Palindrome check
def is_palindrome(s):
return s == s[::-1]
20. 2nd largest without sort
def second_largest(nums):
first = second = float('-inf')
for num in nums:
if num > first:
second, first = first, num
elif first > num > second:
second = num
return second
21. Word frequency count
from collections import Counter
Counter(paragraph.lower().split())
22. Time complexity: set vs list search
list: O(n)
set: O(1) average case (hash-based)
23. Read/write JSON
import json
with open('data.json') as f:
data = json.load(f)
with open('out.json', 'w') as f:
json.dump(data, f)
24. Efficient CSV reading
pd.read_csv('large.csv', chunksize=10000)
25. Flatten nested dict
def flatten(d, parent_key='', sep='_'):
items = {}
for k, v in d.items():
new_key = parent_key + sep + k if parent_key else k
if isinstance(v, dict):
items.update(flatten(v, new_key, sep))
else:
items[new_key] = v
return items
26. Class vs static methods
class Demo:
@staticmethod
def greet(): print("Hello")
@classmethod
def info(cls): print(cls.__name__)
27. __init__, __str__, **__repr__
__init__: constructor
__str__: readable print
__repr__: unambiguous
28. Inheritance
class Animal:
def sound(self): print("Generic")
class Dog(Animal):
def sound(self): print("Bark")
29. Calculate ARPU
def arpu(transactions):
revenue = sum(t['amount'] for t in transactions)
users = len(set(t['user_id'] for t in transactions))
return revenue / users
30. Identify churned customers
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
def get_churned(transactions):
recent = datetime.now() - timedelta(days=60)
active_users = {t['user_id'] for t in transactions if t['date'] > recent}
all_users = {t['user_id'] for t in transactions}
return all_users - active_users
