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Sean Kelley
Sean Kelley
7,118 Points
Posted by Sean Kelley
Sean Kelley
7,118 Points

Programming Interview Questions

Hi all, I am a university student and aspiring Android/Web developer. Next school year, I will be applying for internships, primarily software engineering internships that specialize in Android.

My question to you is this: How much time should I devote to preparing for Programming based questions? I know Java literacy is important, but I don't really have a good metric for how much time I should spend preparing for them for an Android-related position. I have spent some time on Coderbyte, doing some of the Java challenges, but I'm wondering if it is even worth my time.

This isn't the most specific question, but I would appreciate any feedback from somebody who has been down this road before.

1 Answer

Dane Parchment
MOD
Dane Parchment
Treehouse Moderator 11,075 Points
Dane Parchment
Dane Parchment
Treehouse Moderator 11,075 Points

Well if you are applying to be a Software Engineer expect questions in the following categories:

  • Data Structures: LinkedLists, Queues, Nodes, Stacks, Arrays, etc.
  • Bit Manipulation: Left Shifts, Right Shifts, XOR, AND, OR, etc.
  • Object Oriented Programming: Polymorphism, Encapsulation, probably design a small OOP program (most often chess), etc.
  • General Math/Logic Questions: Fizzbuzz, Logic Puzzles, etc.
  • Language Specific Questions: How do you write a class in Java, write a method in C, etc. (it will be your general language preference, though sometimes they may ask you questions in relation to the job you apply for)
  • Algorithms: Big O Notation, Algorithm Design, Algorithms Speed/Efficiency, etc.

Because you want to do web stuff, you may be asked questions that may ask you about DOM manipulation, Web Servers, Applets and Servlets, etc.