Ascendion Architect Interview Questions and Answers

Q1. Have you encountered and resolved any performance issues in your past work?
Ans. 
I have successfully identified and resolved various performance issues in my previous projects, enhancing system efficiency.
• Optimized database queries, reducing response time by 40% in a web application.

• Implemented caching strategies that improved load times for frequently accessed data.

• Refactored code to eliminate bottlenecks, resulting in a smoother user experience.

• Conducted performance testing and monitoring, leadin...read more
Answered by AI
Add your answer
Q2. What are the best practices for securing microservices?
Ans. 
Securing microservices involves implementing best practices like authentication, encryption, and network security to protect data and services.
• Implement strong authentication mechanisms (e.g., OAuth2, JWT) to ensure only authorized users can access services.

• Use HTTPS for all communications to encrypt data in transit and prevent eavesdropping.

• Employ API gateways to manage traffic, enforce security policies, and provide ...read more
Answered by AI
Add your answer
Q3. Can you design a system for searching and placing an order?
Ans. 
A system for searching products and placing orders efficiently with user-friendly interfaces and robust backend architecture.
• User Interface: Design a clean UI for product search with filters (e.g., category, price range).

• Search Functionality: Implement a search algorithm (e.g., Elasticsearch) for fast and relevant results.

• Product Details: Each product should have a detailed page with images, descriptions, and reviews.

• S...read more
Answered by AI
Add your answer
Q4. What HTTP status code should be returned if the product quantity in the database is negative?
Ans. 
A negative product quantity indicates a logical error, typically requiring a 400 Bad Request response.
• HTTP 400 Bad Request: Indicates the server cannot process the request due to client error.

• Example: If a user tries to purchase a product with a negative quantity, the server should respond with 400.

• This status code informs the client that their request is invalid and needs correction.
Answered by AI
Add your answer
Q5. What is the process of designing an API that accepts requests in XML format and returns responses in JSON format?
Ans. 
Designing an API that processes XML requests and returns JSON responses involves several key steps and considerations.
• Define API endpoints and methods (e.g., GET, POST).

• Implement XML parsing to handle incoming requests.

• Convert parsed XML data into a suitable internal data structure.

• Process the request and generate the appropriate response.

• Convert the response data into JSON format.

• Set appropriate HTTP headers for conte...read more
Answered by AI
Add your answer
Q6. Which features of Java 17 have you utilized?
Ans. 
Java 17 introduced several features like sealed classes, pattern matching, and enhanced switch statements that improve code efficiency.
• Sealed Classes: Allow control over which classes can extend them. Example: `sealed class Shape permits Circle, Square {}`.

• Pattern Matching for instanceof: Simplifies type checks and casting. Example: `if (obj instanceof String s) { ... }`.

• Enhanced Switch Statements: Supports multiple ca...read more
Answered by AI
Add your answer

Round duration - 60 minutes
Round difficulty - Medium

21 students were shortlisted from the 1st MCQ round and in this round we were asked to write the codes (function only) of 3 questions in 1 hour time.

Q1. 
Rotting Oranges Problem Statement
You are given a grid containing oranges where each cell of the grid can contain one of the three integer values:
• 0 - representing an empty cell
• 1 - representing a fre...read more
Ans. 
Find the minimum time required to rot all fresh oranges in a grid.
• Use Breadth First Search (BFS) to simulate the rotting process

• Track the time taken to rot all oranges and return -1 if any fresh oranges remain

• Handle edge cases like no fresh oranges or all oranges already rotten

• Consider using a queue to efficiently process adjacent oranges
Answered by AI
Add your answer
Q2. 
Majority Element Problem Statement
Given an array/list 'ARR' consisting of 'N' integers, your task is to find the majority element in the array. If there is no majority element present, return -1.
Exampl...read more
Ans. 
Find the majority element in an array, return -1 if no majority element exists.
• Iterate through the array and keep track of the count of each element using a hashmap.

• Check if any element's count is greater than floor(N/2) to determine the majority element.

• Return the majority element or -1 if no majority element exists.
Answered by AI
Add your answer
Q3. 
Maximum Path Sum Between Two Leaves Problem Description
You are provided with a non-empty binary tree in which each node contains a non-negative integer value. Your task is to find and return the maximum ...read more
Ans. 
Find the maximum path sum between two leaf nodes in a binary tree.
• Traverse the tree to find the maximum path sum between two leaf nodes.

• Keep track of the maximum sum found so far.

• Consider all possible paths between leaf nodes.

• Handle cases where the tree has only a single leaf node.

• Implement a recursive function to calculate the maximum path sum.
Answered by AI
Add your answer

Round duration - 60 minutes
Round difficulty - Medium

This was a technical round with DSA based questions.

Q1. 
N-th Node From The End Problem Statement
You are given a Singly Linked List of integers. The task is to find the N-th node from the end of the list.
Example:
Input:
If the given list is (1 -> -2 -&g...read more
Ans. 
Find the N-th node from the end of a Singly Linked List of integers.
• Traverse the list to find the length L of the list.

• Calculate the position of the N-th node from the beginning as L - N + 1.

• Traverse the list again to reach the calculated position and return the node's value.
Answered by AI
Add your answer
Q2. 
LCA of Binary Tree Problem Statement
You are given a binary tree consisting of distinct integers and two nodes, X and Y. Your task is to find and return the Lowest Common Ancestor (LCA) of these two nodes...read more
Ans. 
Find the Lowest Common Ancestor (LCA) of two nodes in a binary tree.
• Traverse the binary tree to find the paths from the root to nodes X and Y.

• Compare the paths to find the last common node, which is the LCA.

• Handle cases where one node is an ancestor of the other or when one node is the LCA itself.
Answered by AI
Add your answer
Q3. 
Reverse Words in a String: Problem Statement
You are given a string of length N. Your task is to reverse the string word by word. The input may contain multiple spaces between words and may have leading o...read more
Ans. 
Reverse words in a string while handling leading/trailing spaces and multiple spaces between words.
• Split the input string by spaces to get individual words

• Reverse the list of words

• Join the reversed words with a single space in between

• Handle leading/trailing spaces by stripping them before and after reversing
Answered by AI
Add your answer

Round duration - 60 minutes
Round difficulty - Easy

Technical Interview round with questions based on DSA

Q1. 
Minimum Time To Solve The Problems
Given 'N' subjects, each containing a certain number of problems, and 'K' friends, assign subjects to friends such that each subject goes to exactly one friend, maintain...read more
Ans. 
Assign subjects to friends to minimize maximum workload, find minimum time for most loaded friend.
• Sort subjects in descending order

• Assign subjects to friends one by one until all subjects are assigned

• The maximum workload will be the sum of problems assigned to the friend with the most problems

• Return the maximum workload as the minimum time required
Answered by AI
Add your answer
Q2. What is grammar in the context of compiler design?
Ans. 
Grammar in compiler design defines the syntax and structure of a programming language.
• Grammar specifies the rules for forming valid statements in a programming language.

• It consists of a set of production rules that define how valid programs can be constructed.

• There are different types of grammars such as context-free grammar, regular grammar, etc.

• Example: In C programming language, the grammar specifies that a for loop...read more
Answered by AI
Add your answer
Q3. What is a token in compiler design?
Ans. 
A token in compiler design is a basic unit of syntax that the compiler can understand and process.
• Tokens are the smallest units of a program that are meaningful to the compiler.

• Examples of tokens include keywords, identifiers, operators, and punctuation symbols.

• Tokens are generated by the lexical analysis phase of the compiler.

• Tokens are used by the parser to build the abstract syntax tree of the program.
Answered by AI
Add your answer

Round duration - 60 minutes
Round difficulty - Easy

Technical round with questions on DSA and Compiler Design mainly. He told me that you’ll be having your final HR round in some time. I knew that I was going well because he seemed to be quite satisfied with my answers.

Q1. 
Sum Root to Leaf Numbers
You are given an arbitrary binary tree consisting of N nodes, each associated with an integer value from 1 to 9. Each root-to-leaf path can be considered a number formed by concat...read more
Ans. 
Find the total sum of all root to leaf paths in a binary tree formed by concatenating node values.
• Traverse the binary tree from root to leaf nodes, keeping track of the current path sum

• Add the current path sum to the total sum when reaching a leaf node

• Use modulo (10^9 + 7) to handle large outputs
Answered by AI
Add your answer
Q2. What is a regular language?
Ans. 
A regular language is a language that can be recognized by a finite automaton.
• Regular languages can be described by regular expressions.

• Regular languages are closed under union, concatenation, and Kleene star operations.

• Examples of regular languages include the set of all strings over an alphabet that contain an even number of 'a's.
Answered by AI
View 1 more answer
Q3. What are NP and NP-Hard problems?
Ans. 
NP problems are decision problems that can be verified in polynomial time, while NP-Hard problems are at least as hard as the hardest problems in NP.
• NP problems can be verified in polynomial time but not necessarily solved in polynomial time.

• NP-Hard problems are at least as hard as the hardest problems in NP, but may not be in NP themselves.

• Examples of NP problems include the subset sum problem and the traveling salesm...read more
Answered by AI
Add your answer

Round duration - 30 minutes
Round difficulty - Easy

That was the round for which I’ve been waiting for hours 
She was very friendly and nice to talk to. It didn’t seem that I was talking to the HR. It was more like talking to a friend. Finally we discussed about the pay-scale and work culture in Accolite.

Q1. Different types of No SQL DBs
Ans. 
NoSQL databases are non-relational databases that store and retrieve data in a non-tabular format.
• Document-oriented databases (MongoDB, Couchbase)

• Key-value stores (Redis, Riak)

• Column-family stores (Cassandra, HBase)

• Graph databases (Neo4j, OrientDB)
Answered by AI
Add your answer
Q2. Different types of scaling
Ans. 
Scaling refers to the process of increasing or decreasing the capacity of a system to handle more or less load.
• Vertical Scaling: Adding more resources to a single node

• Horizontal Scaling: Adding more nodes to a system

• Load Balancing: Distributing the load across multiple nodes

• Database Sharding: Splitting a database into smaller parts to distribute the load

• Caching: Storing frequently accessed data in memory for faster acc...read more
Answered by AI
Add your answer