Commonly Asked Data Structure Interview Questions on Array
Question 1: What is an array?
Answer: An array is a data structure consisting of a collection of elements, each identified
by at least one array index or key.
Question 2: Can an array be resized at runtime?
Answer: In some programming languages, arrays can be resized dynamically, while in
others, such as C, the size is fixed.
Question 3: What is the time complexity for accessing an element in an
array?
Answer: The time complexity for accessing an element in an array is O(1), as it can be
accessed directly using its index.
Question 4: What is the difference between an array and a linked list?
Answer: An array is a static data structure, while a linked list is a dynamic data structure.
Arrays have a fixed size, and elements are stored consecutively in memory, while linked
lists can grow and do not require contiguous memory allocation.
Question 5: How would you find the smallest and largest element in an
array?
Answer: To find the smallest and largest elements in an array, one common approach is
to iterate through the array and keep track of the smallest and largest elements
encountered so far.
Question 6: Explain the concept of a multi-dimensional array.
Answer: A multi-dimensional array is an array that contains other arrays. For example, a
2D array is an array of arrays, representing a matrix.
Question 7: What is an array index out of bounds exception?
Answer: Answer: This error occurs when an attempt is made to access an element at an
index that is outside the bounds of the array (e.g., negative index or greater than the array
size).
Question 8: How would you reverse an array in-place in linear time and
constant space?
Answer: One approach is to use two pointers starting from the beginning and end of the
array and swap the elements until they meet in the middle.
Question 9: Explain the concept of a jagged array.
Answer: A jagged array is an array of arrays, where each sub-array could be of a
different length.
Question 10: How can you find duplicate elements in an array?
Answer: One way to find duplicate elements in an array is to use a hash set or to sort the
array and then iterate through it to find consecutive duplicates.
Question 11: Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using arrays.
Answer:
Advantages: Constant time access, simple implementation, and efficient storage for
contiguous data.
Disadvantages: Fixed size, no support for dynamic growth, inefficient for insertions
and deletions.
Question 12: Explain the concept of a sparse array.
Answer: A sparse array is an array in which most of the elements have the same value. It
can be represented using a data structure that only stores the non-default (non-zero)
values.
Question 13: What is the difference between an array and a list?
Answer: An array is a static data structure with a fixed size, while a list is a dynamic data
structure that can grow and shrink during runtime.
Commonly Asked Data Structure Interview Questions on Linked
List
Question 1: What is a linked list?
Answer: A linked list is a linear data structure consisting of a sequence of elements,
where each element points to the next one, forming a chain.
Question 2: What are the different types of linked lists?
Answer: Singly linked list, doubly linked list, and circular linked list.
Question 3: What are the advantage of Linked List?
Answer: Advantages of Linked Lists:
Dynamic memory allocation
Efficient insertion and deletion
Can represent complex data structures
Can be used to implement queues and stacks
Can be used for memory management and caching
Can be used for garbage collection
Question 4: What are the disadvantage of Linked List?
Answer: Disadvantages of Linked Lists:
Slow random access
More memory overhead
Difficult to debug
Not cache-friendly
Can suffer from memory leaks
Question 5: What is a cycle/loop in Singly Linked List:
Answer: A cycle, also known as a loop, in a singly-linked list occurs when a node in the
list points back to a previous node, creating a circular path. This means that if you start
traversing the list from any node, you will eventually come back to the same node, forming
an infinite loop.
Question 6: What is time complexity of Linked List operations?
Answer: The time complexity of common operations on a singly-linked list are as follows:
Insertion:
At the beginning: O(1)
At the end: O(n)
At a specific position: O(n)
Deletion:
At the beginning: O(1)
At the end: O(n)
At a specific position: O(n)
Search: O(n)
Traversal: O(n)
Question 7: How would you compare Dynamic Arrays Vs Linked Lists?
Answer: Dynamic Array Advantages:
Fast random access (O(1))
Efficient for large data sets
Contiguous memory allocation
Dynamic Array Disadvantages:
Slow insertion and deletion in the middle (O(n))
Fixed size, can lead to memory waste or reallocation
Linked Lists Advantages:
Efficient insertion and deletion in the middle (O(1))
Can grow and shrink dynamically
Can represent complex data structures
Linked Lists Disadvantages:
Slow random access (O(n))
More memory overhead due to pointers
Not cache-friendly
Dynamic arrays are more efficient for random access and large data sets, while linked
lists are more efficient for operations that involve insertion and deletion in the middle.
Linked lists are also more flexible and can represent complex data structures.
Commonly Asked Data Structure Interview Questions on Stack:
Question 1: What is a stack?
Answer: A stack is a linear data structure that follows the Last-In-First-Out
(LIFO) principle.
Question 2: What are the operations performed on a stack?
Answer: The common operations on a stack are push (insert an element), pop (remove
the top element), and peek (view the top element).
Question 3: How is a stack implemented in an array?
Answer: A stack can be implemented using an array by maintaining a pointer to the top of
the stack.
Question 4: What is the time complexity of stack operations?
Answer: Push, pop, and peek operations have a time complexity of O(1).
Question 5: What are the applications of a stack?
Answer: Stacks are used in various applications, such as function
calls, recursion, expression evaluation, and parsing.
Question 6: What is a stack overflow?
Answer: A stack overflow occurs when the stack exceeds its allocated memory.
Question 7: What is a stack underflow?
Answer: A stack underflow occurs when the stack is empty and an attempt is made to
pop an element.
Question 8: What is a postfix expression?
Answer: A postfix expression is an expression where the operator follows the operands.
Question 9: How can a stack be used to evaluate a postfix expression?
Answer: By pushing operands onto the stack and performing operations when operators
are encountered.
Question 10: What is a prefix expression?
Answer: A prefix expression is an expression where the operator precedes the operands.
Question 11: How can a stack be used to evaluate a prefix expression?
Answer: By pushing operators onto the stack and performing operations when operands
are encountered.
Question 12: How can a stack be used to check if a parenthesis expression is
balanced?
Answer: A stack can be used to check if a parenthesis expression is balanced by
following these steps:
Push the opening parenthesis onto the stack.
When an closing parenthesis is encountered, pop the top element from the stack and
check if it matches the closing parenthesis.
If the stack is empty at the end of the expression, then the expression is balanced.
If the stack is not empty, then the expression is not balanced.
Commonly Asked Data Structure Interview Questions on Queue
Question 1: What is a Queue?
Answer: A queue is a linear data structure that follows the First-In-First-Out
(FIFO) principle, where elements are added at the rear (enqueue) and removed from the
front (dequeue).
Question 2: What are the different types of Queues?
Answer:
Simple Queue
Circular Queue
Priority Queue
Double-Ended Queue (Deque)
Question 3: How is a Queue implemented in an array?
Answer: An array can be used to implement a simple queue by maintaining two pointers:
front and rear. Front points to the first element, and rear points to the next available
position.
Question 4: How is a Queue implemented in a linked list?
Answer: A linked list can be used to implement a queue by creating a node for each
element and maintaining a head and tail pointer. Enqueueing adds a node to the tail, and
dequeueing removes a node from the head.
Question 5: What is the time complexity of enqueue and dequeue operations
in a Queue?
Answer:
Enqueue: O(1)
Dequeue: O(1) for simple and circular queues, O(n) for priority queues
Question 6: What is the difference between a Queue and a Stack?
Answer: A queue follows FIFO, while a stack follows Last-In-First-Out (LIFO).
Question 7: What are the applications of Queues?
Answer:
Task scheduling
Message passing
Simulation of real-world scenarios
Question 8: How do you handle overflow and underflow conditions in a
Queue?
Answer:
Overflow: When the queue is full, throw an exception or return an error code.
Underflow: When the queue is empty, throw an exception or return a null value.
Question 9: What is a circular queue?
Answer: A circular queue is a variation of a simple queue where the rear pointer wraps
around to the beginning of the array after reaching the end.
Question 10: What is a priority queue?
Answer: A priority queue is a queue where elements are assigned priorities and are
dequeued based on their priorities.
Question 11: How is a priority queue implemented?
Answer: Priority queues can be implemented using a binary heap or a self-
balancing binary search tree.
Question 12: What is a double-ended queue (Deque)?
Answer: A deque is a queue that allows insertions and deletions from both ends.
Question 13: How is a deque implemented?
Answer: A deque can be implemented using two stacks or a circular buffer.
Question 14: What are the advantages of using a Queue?
Answer:
Simple and efficient FIFO implementation
Easy to enqueue and dequeue elements
Supports multiple producers and consumers
Question 15: What are the disadvantages of using a Queue?
Answer:
Limited access to elements (only from the front or rear)
Can be inefficient if elements need to be accessed in a non-sequential order
