Thomson Reuters Senior Test Engineer Interview Questions and Answers for Experienced

Design a traffic signal system

• Identify the number of lanes and intersections

• Determine the traffic flow and peak hours

• Choose appropriate sensors and controllers

• Implement a synchronization algorithm

• Consider emergency vehicle prioritization

• Include pedestrian crossing signals

• Ensure compliance with local regulations

Hashmap is a data structure that stores key-value pairs and provides constant time complexity for insertion, deletion, and retrieval.

• Hashmap uses hashing function to map keys to indices in an array

• Collisions can occur when multiple keys map to the same index, which can be resolved using separate chaining or open addressing

• Java implementation: HashMap<String, Integer> map = new HashMap<>();

Printing patterns using code

• Identify the pattern to be printed

• Use loops to print the pattern

• Adjust the loop variables to control the pattern

• Use conditional statements to modify the pattern

• Examples: printing stars, triangles, squares, etc.

Common point in linked list refers to the node where two or more linked lists intersect.

• The common point can be found by traversing both linked lists and comparing the nodes.

• The common point can also be found by using two pointers, one for each linked list, and moving them until they meet at the common point.

• Examples include finding the intersection point of two linked lists or finding the loop in a linked list.

A generic swap function swaps two values of any data type.

• The function should take two parameters of any data type.

• Use a temporary variable to store the value of one parameter.

• Assign the value of the second parameter to the first parameter.

• Assign the value of the temporary variable to the second parameter.

Search for an element in a rotated sorted linked list.

• Find the pivot point where the list is rotated.

• Divide the list into two sublists based on the pivot point.

• Perform binary search on the appropriate sublist.

• Handle edge cases such as empty list and list with only one element.

Search an element in a rotated sorted array

• Find the pivot point where the array is rotated

• Divide the array into two sub-arrays based on pivot point

• Perform binary search on the appropriate sub-array

• Repeat until element is found or sub-array size is 1

Given a Sudoku board, find possible numbers for an empty cell.

• Iterate through empty cells and check possible numbers using row, column, and box constraints.

• Use a set to keep track of possible numbers for each empty cell.

• Return the set of possible numbers for the given empty cell.

Find integer average of 4 unsigned integers without typecasting

• Add all the integers and divide by 4

• Use bit shifting to divide by 4

• Handle overflow by using long long data type

• Use unsigned int data type for input

Code to identify 32 bit or 64 bit architecture of a processor

• Check if the operating system is 32 bit or 64 bit

• If OS is 32 bit, processor is 32 bit

• If OS is 64 bit, check if processor supports 64 bit architecture

• Use CPUID instruction to check if processor supports 64 bit architecture

Convert binary number to base 64 integer

• Divide the binary number into groups of 6 bits

• Convert each group of 6 bits to decimal

• Map the decimal value to the corresponding base 64 character

• Concatenate the base 64 characters to form the final integer

Creating test cases for random scenarios ensures software reliability and robustness through diverse input validation.

• Identify edge cases: Test with minimum and maximum input values, e.g., an empty array vs. a large array.

• Use random data: Generate random inputs to simulate real-world usage, e.g., random user names or passwords.

• Test invalid inputs: Ensure the system handles unexpected inputs gracefully, e.g., negative n...read more