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Software Engineer Interview Questions

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Software Engineer Interview Questions

Software engineers write programs to design and develop computer software. Interviews are highly technical, so come ready to work through coding problems and maths brainteasers. The specific questions you are asked will depend on what type of programming position you are looking for. Try researching a specific software discipline such as web development, application development or system development.

Top Software Engineer Interview Questions & How to Answer

Question 1

Question No. 1: How would you describe your programming task process?

How to answer
How to answer: When answering a question about your process or life cycle for software development and engineering, it is helpful to consider every step, beginning with obtaining the requirements for the end product. Include as much detail as possible to help the interviewer learn more about any work you have done as a software engineer and how you handle a task to show your ability to tackle a project from start to finish.
Question 2

Question No. 2: Which programming languages do you know and prefer?

How to answer
How to answer: An interviewer will want to know which programming languages you are familiar with as well as which languages you prefer. This question does not necessarily have a right or wrong answer, but it does provide insights into your capabilities and coding expertise. If the job listing for which you are interviewing includes specific language knowledge preferences, make sure you include them when outlining the software languages you know.
Question 3

Question No. 3: What is an example of a successful project that you have completed?

How to answer
How to answer: When describing your success with a past project, it is helpful to identify aspects of the project that went well and detail the different task list elements. You can describe the team you worked with on the project, how you managed your time and how you specifically contributed to the project.

418,531 software engineer interview questions shared by candidates

There are three boxes, one contains only apples, one contains only oranges, and one contains both apples and oranges. The boxes have been incorrectly labeled such that no label identifies the actual contents of the box it labels. Opening just one box, and without looking in the box, you take out one piece of fruit. By looking at the fruit, how can you immediately label all of the boxes correctly?
avatar

Software QA Engineer

Interviewed at Apple

4.1★
7 Oct 2010

There are three boxes, one contains only apples, one contains only oranges, and one contains both apples and oranges. The boxes have been incorrectly labeled such that no label identifies the actual contents of the box it labels. Opening just one box, and without looking in the box, you take out one piece of fruit. By looking at the fruit, how can you immediately label all of the boxes correctly?

You have a 100 coins laying flat on a table, each with a head side and a tail side. 10 of them are heads up, 90 are tails up. You can't feel, see or in any other way find out which side is up. Split the coins into two piles such that there are the same number of heads in each pile.
avatar

Software Engineer

Interviewed at Apple

4.1★
19 Jun 2012

You have a 100 coins laying flat on a table, each with a head side and a tail side. 10 of them are heads up, 90 are tails up. You can't feel, see or in any other way find out which side is up. Split the coins into two piles such that there are the same number of heads in each pile.

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