Amdocs Associate Software Engineer Interview Questions, Process, and Tips

Round duration - 90 Minutes
Round difficulty - Medium

This was an online coding round where we had 2 questions to solve under 90 minutes . Both the questions were of easy to medium difficulty .

Q1. 
Nth Fibonacci Number Problem Statement
Calculate the Nth term in the Fibonacci sequence, where the sequence is defined as follows: F(n) = F(n-1) + F(n-2), with initial conditions F(1) = F(2) = 1.
Input:
...read more
Ans. 
This problem is a simple recursive problem. But time complexity of simple recursive calls is exponential. In O(log(n)) this problem can be solved using a simple trick.

If n is even then k = n/2:
F(n) = [2*F(k-1) + F(k)]*F(k)

If n is odd then k = (n + 1)/2
F(n) = F(k)*F(k) + F(k-1)*F(k-1)

This method will solve this question in O(log(n)).
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Q2. 
K - Sum Path In A Binary Tree
Given a binary tree where each node contains an integer value, and a value 'K', your task is to find all the paths in the binary tree such that the sum of the node values in ...read more
Ans. 
The idea is simple: along the path, record all prefix sums in a hash table. For current prefix sum x, check if (x - target) appears in the hash table.

Steps :
1) We will be using a unordered map which will be filled with various path sum.
2) For every node we will check if current sum and root’s value equal to k or not. If the sum equals to k then increment the required answer by one.
3) Then we will add all those path sum...read more
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Round duration - 60 Minutes
Round difficulty - Medium

This was a standard DSA round where I was asked to solve 1 question and also code it in a production ready manner . I was also asked 2 puzzles in this round to check my problem solving skills . This round ended with some basic concepts from DBMS and I was also asked some queries related to SQL .

Q1. 
Reverse Stack with Recursion
Reverse a given stack of integers using recursion. You must accomplish this without utilizing extra space beyond the internal stack space used by recursion. Additionally, you ...read more
Ans. 
Algorithm :

1) ReverseStack(stack)
i) If the stack is empty, then return
ii) Pop the top element from the stack as top
iii) Reverse the remaining elements in the stack, call reverseStack(stack) method
iv) Insert the top element to the bottom of the stack, call InsertAtBottom(stack, top) method
2) InsertAtBottom(stack, ele)
i) If the stack is empty, push ele to stack, return
ii) Pop the top element from the stack as top
iii) Ins...read more
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Q2. You have a racetrack with 25 horses. What is the fastest way to determine the top 3 fastest horses, given that you can only race 5 horses at a time?
Ans. 
Steps : 

1) Make group of 5 horses and run 5 races. 

2) Suppose five groups are a,b,c,d,e and next alphabet is its individual rank in tis group(of 5 horses).For eg. d3 means horse in group d and has rank 3rd in his group. [ 5 RACES DONE ]
a1 b1 c1 d1 e1
a2 b2 c2 d2 e2
a3 b3 c3 d3 e3
a4 b4 c4 d4 e4
a5 b5 c5 d5 e5

3) Now make a race of (a1,b1,c1,d1,e1).[RACE 6 DONE] suppose result is a1>b1>c1>d1>e1
which imp...read more
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Q3. How can you measure exactly 4 liters of water using only a 3-liter can and a 5-liter can?
Ans. 
Steps :
Let's call 5L jar as X and 3L jar as Y.

1) We'll take the first jar, i.e, X. Fill X completely.
2) Then empty the X content in Y. We are left with 2 L in the X.
3) Now we will empty the Y jar and then Fill 2L from X into Y. We are left with 0L in X and 2L in Y.
4) Now again we will fill X with 5L and then empty till Y gets full.
5) As Y is already full with 2L from previous operation so it can only accomodate 1L now ...read more
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Q4. What is meant by normalization and denormalization?
Ans. 
NORMALIZATION :
1) Normalization is a process of reducing redundancy by organizing the data into multiple tables.
2) Normalization leads to better usage of disk spaces and makes it easier to maintain the integrity of the database.

DENORMALIZATION :
1) Denormalization is the reverse process of normalization as it combines the tables which have been normalized into a single table so that data retrieval becomes faster.
2) JOIN...read more
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Q5. What is the difference between a primary key and a unique key in a database management system?
Ans. 
Answer :

Primary Key : Used to serve as a unique identifier for each row in a table.
Unique Key : Uniquely determines a row which isn’t primary key.

Key Differences Between Primary key and Unique key: 

1) Primary key will not accept NULL values whereas Unique key can accept NULL values.

2) A table can have only one primary key whereas there can be multiple unique key on a table.

3) A Clustered index automatically create...read more
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Q6. Can you explain the concepts of Left Outer Join and Right Outer Join in DBMS?
Ans. 
Answer : 

LEFT JOIN : 
The LEFT JOIN or the LEFT OUTER JOIN returns all the records from the left table and also those records which satisfy a condition from the right table. Also, for the records having no matching values in the right table, the output or the result-set will contain the NULL values.

Syntax:
SELECT Table1.Column1,Table1.Column2,Table2.Column1,....
FROM Table1
LEFT JOIN Table2
ON Table1.MatchingColum...read more
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Q7. How do you find the second highest salary in a table?
Ans. 
Approach : 
Sort the distinct salary in descend order and then utilize the LIMIT clause to get the second highest salary.


SQL Query :

SELECT DISTINCT Salary
FROM Employee
ORDER BY Salary DESC
LIMIT 1 OFFSET 1;
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Round duration - 30 Minutes
Round difficulty - Easy

This was a typical HR round with some standard Behavioral questions like my interests, weaknesses, strengths, family background, why Amdocs, CEO of Amdocs etc.

Q1. What is something about you that is not included in your resume?
Ans. 
If you get this question, it's an opportunity to choose the most compelling information to share that is not obvious from your resume.

Example :
Strength -> I believe that my greatest strength is the ability to solve problems quickly and efficiently, which makes me unique from others.

Handle Pressure -> I enjoy working under pressure because I believe it helps me grow and become more efficient .

Tip : Emphasize why y...read more
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