Apple Java react fullstack developer ICT3 role interview questions

Round 1: Frontend (Machine Coding - React) The interviewer asked me to develop a file system in React. It was a machine coding round, and the interviewer was quite impressed with my solution. Round 2: Backend (System Design & JavaScript) This round focused on backend concepts. The interviewer asked: "What is the use of an API Gateway?" "Implement Promise.race() in JavaScript." A simple DSA question related to flight management (very easy level). "What is the purpose of CORS errors, and why don’t we get them in Postman?" Round 3: Java & Spring Boot This round tested my knowledge of Java and Spring Boot: "Why is dependency injection needed, and what is its purpose?" A simple DSA question: "Return the K greatest numbers from an array." "What are different HTTP status codes, and when are they used?" Round 4: Advanced Frontend (Rejection Round) Since I mentioned being strong in frontend, they gave me a challenging task: Implement API retries: If an API call fails, retry it 3 times with a 1-second delay. (My solution wasn’t perfect.) Build a product listing page with: Pagination Filtering Search functionality (by product name) Good CSS styling Time given: 40 minutes (I managed pagination and sorting but had bugs. Realistically, this would take 50-60 minutes in React.) Round 5: Project Deep Dive & Problem-Solving (Formality Round) This was more of a discussion round: Explained my project implementation in detail. "How is a HashSet implemented in Java?" Puzzle: "You have two ropes, each taking 30 minutes to burn. How do you measure exactly 45 minutes? (You can’t bend them or measure half accurately.)" My answer: Burn one rope from one end (30 mins) and the other from both ends (15 mins). Total = 45 mins. The interviewer was satisfied. They deep-dived into my projects to assess my understanding.