Cisco Software Developer Interview Questions, Process, and Tips

Mostly questions on Bit manipulation

Q1. Basic c, linked list
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Q2. Reverse link list
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Rotate matrix on hacker rank

Q1. Bitwise manipulation
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Q2. Reverse link list
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Round duration - 60 minutes
Round difficulty - Hard

There were 2 coding questions and 15 MCQs (related to OOPs, OS, DBMS, CN, DSA, and Aptitude).

Q1. 
Apple Pickup Problem Statement
Alice has a garden represented as a ‘N’ * ‘N’ grid called ‘MATRIX’. She wants to collect apples following these rules:
• 1 -> Alice can pick an apple from this cell and ...read more
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Q2. 
Implement Stack with Linked List
Your task is to implement a Stack data structure using a Singly Linked List.
Explanation:
Create a class named Stack which supports the following operations, each in O(1...read more
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Round duration - 40 minutes
Round difficulty - Medium

It was a technical interview round where I was asked questions based on DSA.

Q1. 
Cycle Detection in a Singly Linked List
Determine if a given singly linked list of integers forms a cycle or not.
A cycle in a linked list occurs when a node's next points back to a previous node in the ...read more
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Q2. 
Find the Lone Set Bit
Your task is to identify the position of the only '1' bit in the binary representation of a given non-negative integer N. The representation contains exactly one '1' and the rest are...read more
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Round duration - 30 minutes
Round difficulty - Medium

It was a technical interview round where I was asked questions based on DSA, OS, and Networking.

Q1. 
Find All Pairs Adding Up to Target
Given an array of integers ARR of length N and an integer Target, your task is to return all pairs of elements such that they add up to the Target.
Input:
The first line ...read more
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Q2. What is priority inversion?
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Q3. What happens when you boot your system?
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Q4. What is an IP address and how many bits are required to represent it?
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Round duration - 10 minutes
Round difficulty - Easy

This was an HR round. The interviewer asked me some questions.
Finally, she asked if I had any questions for her.

Q1. What is Python?how if state ments are used?
Ans. 
Python is a high-level, interpreted programming language known for its simplicity and readability.
• Python is used for web development, data analysis, artificial intelligence, and more.

• It uses if statements for conditional execution of code.

• Example: if x > 5: print('x is greater than 5')

• Python also supports elif and else statements for more complex conditions.
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Q2. When the looping state ments are used? What are branching statements explain breafly?
Ans. 
Looping statements are used to execute a block of code repeatedly. Branching statements alter the flow of control in a program.
• Looping statements are used when we want to execute a block of code repeatedly until a certain condition is met.

• Examples of looping statements include for, while, and do-while loops.

• Branching statements are used to alter the normal flow of control in a program.

• Examples of branching statements i...read more
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Q3. Self Introduction and Graduation details What about your skills and etc..
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Round duration - 70 Minutes
Round difficulty - Medium

This was an Online Coding+MCQ round where we had a total of 50 MCQ questions and 1 coding problem. The coding problem was of easy to medium level but was a bit implementation heavy.

Q1. 
Intersection of Linked List Problem
You are provided with two singly linked lists containing integers, where both lists converge at some node belonging to a third linked list.
Your task is to determine t...read more
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Round duration - 60 Minutes
Round difficulty - Medium

The interviewer asked 1 coding problem related to Sliding Window in this round and then the rest of the questions were preety much revolving around Computer Networks and OOPS.

Q1. 
Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters Problem Statement
Given a string S of length L, determine the length of the longest substring that contains no repeating characters.
Example:
Input:
"abac...read more
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Q2. Can you explain what DNS is?
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Q3. Explain why MAC addresses are necessary even though we have IP addresses.
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Q4. How does C++ support polymorphism?
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Round duration - 60 minutes
Round difficulty - Medium

This round had questions revolving around Computer Networks and Operating Systems.

Tip : Concepts related to Computer Networks is quite frequently asked in Cisco interviews . So its better to remain equipped with all the fundamental concepts. I prepared all the core subjects from my notes and for revision I would suggest the guided paths of Coding Ninjas , they are very useful for quick revision and also the questions over there are very frequently asked in interviews.

Q1. What is the ARP protocol?
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Q2. What are the different types of semaphores?
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Q3. What is thrashing in operating systems?
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Round duration - 90 minutes
Round difficulty - Medium

25 MCQS: Based on OS, CN, and aptitude.
1 Coding questions: Medium. I was able to solve it. The question was based on string and hashmap

Q1. 
Word Break Problem Statement
You are given a list of N strings called A. Your task is to determine whether you can form a given target string by combining one or more strings from A.
The strings from A c...read more
Ans. 
Given a list of strings, determine if a target string can be formed by combining one or more strings from the list.
• Iterate through all possible combinations of strings from the list to check if they form the target string.

• Use recursion to try different combinations of strings.

• Optimize the solution by using memoization to store intermediate results.

• Handle edge cases like empty input or target string.
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