Urban Outfitters Interview Questions and Answers

Round duration - 60 Minutes
Round difficulty - Medium

The round was held on Google Meet and I was given 2 coding problems for which first I had to explain my approach and then I had to write code in Shared Google Docs and dry run on sample test cases and discuss Time and Space Complexity.

Q1. 
Validate BST Problem Statement
Given a binary tree with N nodes, determine whether the tree is a Binary Search Tree (BST). If it is a BST, return true; otherwise, return false.
A binary search tree (BST)...read more
Ans. 
Validate if a given binary tree is a Binary Search Tree (BST) or not.
• Check if the left subtree of a node contains only nodes with data less than the node's data.

• Check if the right subtree of a node contains only nodes with data greater than the node's data.

• Recursively check if both left and right subtrees are also binary search trees.
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Q2. 
Maximum Sum Path from Leaf to Root
Given a binary tree with 'N' nodes, identify the path from a leaf node to the root node that has the maximum sum among all root-to-leaf paths.
Example:
All the possibl...read more
Ans. 
Find the path from a leaf node to the root node with the maximum sum in a binary tree.
• Traverse the binary tree from leaf to root while keeping track of the sum of each path.

• Compare the sums of all paths and return the path with the maximum sum.

• Use recursion to traverse the tree efficiently and keep updating the maximum sum path.
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Round duration - 60 Minutes
Round difficulty - Medium

This was also a Data Structures and Algorithms round where I was asked to solve 2 coding problems explaining my approach with proper Complexity Analysis . After the coding questions were over there was some time left so the interviewer asked me some concepts related to DBMS.

Q1. 
Next Permutation Problem Statement
You are given a permutation of 'N' integers. A sequence of 'N' integers is considered a permutation if it includes all integers from 1 to 'N' exactly once. Your task is ...read more
Ans. 
The task is to rearrange a given permutation of 'N' integers to form the lexicographically next greater permutation.
• Iterate from right to left to find the first element that is smaller than the element to its right.

• Swap this element with the smallest element to its right that is greater than it.

• Reverse the elements to the right of the swapped element to get the lexicographically next greater permutation.
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Q2. 
Largest BST Subtree Problem Statement
You are given a binary tree with 'N' nodes. Your task is to determine the size of the largest subtree within the binary tree which is also a Binary Search Tree (BST).
...read more
Ans. 
Find the size of the largest subtree in a binary tree that is also a Binary Search Tree.
• Traverse the tree in a bottom-up manner to check if each subtree is a BST.

• Keep track of the size of the largest BST subtree encountered so far.

• Use recursion to solve this problem efficiently.

• Example: For the input 1 2 3 4 -1 5 6 -1 7 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1, the largest BST subtree has a size of 3.
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Q3. Can you explain indexing in databases?
Ans. 
Indexing in databases is a technique used to improve the speed of data retrieval by creating a data structure that allows for quick lookups.
• Indexes are created on columns in a database table to speed up the retrieval of rows that match a certain condition.

• Types of indexes include B-tree, hash, and bitmap indexes.

• Indexes can improve the performance of SELECT queries but may slow down INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE operation...read more
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Round duration - 50 Minutes
Round difficulty - Medium

This round also had 2 questions related to DS and Algo . One was from graphs and the other was an implementation of a LRU Cache . There were 2 interviewers and both of them were quite friendly and helpful. Overall, this round went well.

Q1. 
Detect Cycle in a Directed Graph
You are provided with a directed graph composed of 'N' nodes. You have a matrix called 'EDGES' with dimensions M x 2, which specifies the 'M' edges in the graph. Each edge...read more
Ans. 
Detect cycle in a directed graph using depth-first search (DFS) algorithm.
• Use DFS to traverse the graph and detect back edges (edges that point to an ancestor node).

• Maintain a visited array to keep track of visited nodes and a recursion stack to keep track of nodes in the current path.

• If a back edge is found during traversal, a cycle exists in the graph.

• Return true if a cycle is detected, false otherwise.
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Q2. 
LRU Cache Design Question
Design a data structure for a Least Recently Used (LRU) cache that supports the following operations:
1. get(key) - Return the value of the key if it exists in the cache; otherw...read more
Ans. 
Design a Least Recently Used (LRU) cache data structure that supports get and put operations with capacity constraint.
• Use a combination of hashmap and doubly linked list to efficiently implement the LRU cache.

• Keep track of the least recently used item and update it accordingly when inserting new items.

• Ensure to handle the capacity constraint by evicting the least recently used item when the cache is full.

• Implement get(...read more
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Round duration - 90 minutes
Round difficulty - Hard

This was an online coding round where we were supposed to solve 2 questions under 90 minutes . Both the questions in my set were related to Graphs and were quite tricky and heavy to implement.

Q1. 
Path Counting in Directed Graph
Given a directed graph with a specified number of vertices V and edges E, your task is to calculate the total number of distinct paths from a given source node S to all ot...read more
Ans. 
Calculate the total number of distinct paths from a given source node to all other nodes in a directed graph.
• Use dynamic programming to keep track of the number of paths from the source node to each node in the graph.

• Consider using modular arithmetic to handle large numbers and prevent overflow.

• Start by initializing the number of paths from the source node to itself as 1.

• Iterate through the edges of the graph and updat...read more
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Q2. 
Course Schedule II Problem Statement
You are provided with a number of courses 'N', some of which have prerequisites. There is a matrix named 'PREREQUISITES' of size 'M' x 2. This matrix indicates that fo...read more
Ans. 
Given courses with prerequisites, determine a valid order to complete all courses.
• Use topological sorting to find a valid order of courses.

• Create a graph with courses as nodes and prerequisites as edges.

• Start with courses that have no prerequisites and remove them from the graph.

• Continue this process until all courses are taken or there are no valid courses left.

• If there is a cycle in the graph, it is impossible to com
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Round duration - 60 Minutes
Round difficulty - Medium

This was a Data Structures and Algorithms round with some standard questions . I was expected to come up with an
efficient approach and code it as well .

Q1. 
Merge Intervals Problem Statement
You are provided with 'N' intervals, each containing two integers denoting the start time and end time of the interval.
Your task is to merge all overlapping intervals a...read more
Ans. 
Merge overlapping intervals and return sorted list of merged intervals.
• Sort the intervals based on start times.

• Iterate through intervals and merge overlapping intervals.

• Return the merged intervals in sorted order.
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Q2. 
Longest Route Problem Statement
Given a 2-dimensional binary matrix called Mat of size N x M that consists solely of 0s and 1s, find the length of the longest path from a specified source cell to a destina...read more
Ans. 
Find the length of the longest path from a source cell to a destination cell in a binary matrix.
• Use depth-first search (DFS) to explore all possible paths from source to destination.

• Keep track of visited cells to avoid revisiting them.

• Return the length of the longest path found, or -1 if no path exists.
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Round duration - 50 Minutes
Round difficulty - Medium

This was also a DSA round where I was asked to code only one of the questions but I eventually ended up coding both
as I had some spare time and explained my approches very smoothly to the interviewer . This round went preety well .

Q1. 
Longest Increasing Subsequence Problem Statement
Given an array of integers with 'N' elements, determine the length of the longest subsequence where each element is greater than the previous element. This...read more
Ans. 
Find the length of the longest strictly increasing subsequence in an array of integers.
• Use dynamic programming to solve this problem efficiently.

• Initialize an array to store the length of the longest increasing subsequence ending at each index.

• Iterate through the array and update the length of the longest increasing subsequence for each element.

• Return the maximum value in the array as the result.
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Q2. 
Search In Rotated Sorted Array Problem Statement
Given a rotated sorted array ARR of size 'N' and an integer 'K', determine the index at which 'K' is present in the array.
Note:
1. If 'K' is not present...read more
Ans. 
Given a rotated sorted array, find the index of a given integer 'K'.
• Use binary search to find the pivot point where the array is rotated.

• Then perform binary search on the appropriate half of the array to find 'K'.

• Handle cases where 'K' is not present in the array by returning -1.
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Round duration - 50 Minutes
Round difficulty - Medium

This was also a DSA round with 2 questions of Medium to Hard difficulty . I was expected to follow some clean code and OOPS principles to write the code in this round .

Q1. 
Rank from Stream Problem Statement
Given an array of integers ARR and an integer K, determine the rank of the element ARR[K].
Explanation:
The rank of any element in ARR is defined as the number of elem...read more
Ans. 
Given an array and an index, find the number of elements smaller than the element at that index appearing before it in the array.
• Iterate through the array up to index K and count the number of elements smaller than ARR[K].

• Return the count as the rank of ARR[K].

• Handle edge cases like empty array or invalid index K.
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Q2. 
LRU Cache Design Question
Design a data structure for a Least Recently Used (LRU) cache that supports the following operations:
1. get(key) - Return the value of the key if it exists in the cache; otherw...read more
Ans. 
Design a Least Recently Used (LRU) cache data structure that supports get and put operations with capacity constraint.
• Implement a doubly linked list to maintain the order of recently used keys.

• Use a hashmap to store key-value pairs for quick access.

• Update the order of keys in the linked list on get and put operations.

• Evict the least recently used key when the cache reaches its capacity.
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Round duration - 60 Minutes
Round difficulty - Medium

This round was purely based on Data Structures and Algorithms . One has to be fairly comfortable in solving Algorithmic problems to pass this round . Both the questions asked were quite common and luckily I had already prepared them from CodeStudio and LeetCode.

Q1. 
Binary Tree Traversals Problem Statement
Given a Binary Tree with 'N' nodes, where each node holds an integer value, your task is to compute the In-Order, Pre-Order, and Post-Order traversals of the binar...read more
Ans. 
Compute the In-Order, Pre-Order, and Post-Order traversals of a Binary Tree given in level-order format.
• Implement functions to perform In-Order, Pre-Order, and Post-Order traversals of a Binary Tree.

• Use level-order input to construct the Binary Tree.

• Traverse the Binary Tree recursively to generate the required traversals.

• Ensure proper handling of null nodes represented by -1 in the input.

• Return the three traversals as
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Q2. 
Reverse Linked List Problem Statement
Given a Singly Linked List of integers, your task is to reverse the Linked List by altering the links between the nodes.
Input:
The first line of input is an intege...read more
Ans. 
Reverse a singly linked list by altering the links between nodes.
• Iterate through the linked list and reverse the links between nodes

• Use three pointers to keep track of the current, previous, and next nodes

• Update the links between nodes to reverse the list

• Return the head of the reversed linked list
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Round duration - 45 Minutes
Round difficulty - Medium

This round basically tested some concepts from Data Structures and File Manipulation .

Q1. 
Intersection of Two Arrays Problem Statement
Given two arrays A and B with sizes N and M respectively, both sorted in non-decreasing order, determine their intersection.
The intersection of two arrays in...read more
Ans. 
The problem involves finding the intersection of two sorted arrays efficiently.
• Use two pointers to iterate through both arrays simultaneously.

• Compare elements at the pointers and move the pointers accordingly.

• Handle cases where elements are equal and update the intersection array.

• Return the intersection array as the result.
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Round duration - 90 minutes
Round difficulty - Easy

The test was of moderate level, the coding question was easy if all the boundary questions were properly considered.

Q1. 
Largest Prime Factor Problem Statement
You are given a positive integer n. Your task is to identify the largest prime factor of this given positive integer.
If there is no prime factor for a given intege...read more
Ans. 
Identify the largest prime factor of a given positive integer.
• Iterate from 2 to sqrt(n) to find prime factors

• Check if each factor is prime and update largest prime factor

• If no prime factor found, output -1
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Q2. 
First Missing Positive Problem Statement
You are provided with an integer array ARR of length 'N'. Your objective is to determine the first missing positive integer using linear time and constant space. T...read more
Ans. 
Find the smallest positive integer missing from an array of integers.
• Iterate through the array and mark positive integers as visited using index as a reference.

• After marking, iterate again to find the first unmarked index which represents the missing positive integer.

• Handle edge cases like duplicates and negative numbers appropriately.

• Example: For input [3, 4, -1, 1], the output should be 2.
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Round duration - 60 minutes
Round difficulty - Easy

The interviewer was friendly and he was interested in the implementation first and then the code.
Tips: Be thorough with various implementations and why they are in practice. Try to know the logic behind each implementation.

Q1. 
Binary Array Sorting Problem Statement
You are provided with a binary array, i.e., an array containing only 0s and 1s. Your task is to sort this binary array and return it after sorting.
Input:
 The fir...read more
Ans. 
Yes, the binary array can be sorted in linear time and constant space using a single traversal.
• Use two pointers approach to swap 0s to the left and 1s to the right.

• Maintain two pointers, one for 0s and one for 1s, and iterate through the array once.

• Example: Input array [1, 0, 1, 0, 1] will be sorted to [0, 0, 1, 1, 1] in a single traversal.
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Q2. What is polymorphism in object-oriented programming?
Ans. 
Polymorphism in OOP allows objects of different classes to be treated as objects of a common superclass.
• Polymorphism allows for flexibility and reusability in code.

• It enables a single interface to be used for different data types.

• Examples include method overriding and method overloading.
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Q3. What is operator overloading?
Ans. 
Operator overloading is the ability to redefine the behavior of operators for user-defined data types.
• Allows operators to be used with custom data types

• Can define custom behavior for operators like +, -, *, etc.

• Helps make code more readable and intuitive

• Example: Overloading the + operator for a custom Vector class to add two vectors
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Q4. What is the difference between method overloading and method overriding?
Ans. 
Method overloading is having multiple methods in the same class with the same name but different parameters. Method overriding is having a method in a subclass with the same name and parameters as a method in its superclass.
• Method overloading involves multiple methods with the same name but different parameters.

• Method overriding involves a subclass redefining a method from its superclass with the same name and paramete...read more
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Round duration - 45 minutes
Round difficulty - Easy

The interviewer was looking for a person interested in problem solving. He was looking forward for loud thinking.
Tips: If you don't know any answer, don't lose your cool. It is never necessary to answer all the questions in an interview. Be confident and think loud, so that if you are going the wrong way, the interviewer can assist you.

Round duration - 30 minutes
Round difficulty - Easy

This was the last round and just for formality. The interviewers were looking for a person who would fit in their working culture.
Tips: Be confident and always have a smile on your face. If you are selected for the HR interview, then there is a 90% chance that you would be selected.