20+ Staff Software Engineer Interview Questions and Answers

Use memory-mapped files or stream the file in chunks.

• Use memory-mapped files to access the file in chunks.

• Stream the file in chunks using a buffer.

• Use compression techniques to reduce the file size before opening.

Given an array, return a new array where each element is the product of all elements in the original array except the corresponding element.

• Create a new array of the same length as the input array

• Iterate through the input array and calculate the product of all elements except the current element

• Store the product in the corresponding position in the new array

• Return the new array

Move all zeros to end of array & design Google Photos life application

• Iterate through the array and move all zeros to the end

• Design a user-friendly interface for Google Photos life application

• Implement features like automatic photo backup, organization, and sharing

• Utilize machine learning for image recognition and categorization

The current project follows a microservices architecture.

• The project is divided into multiple small services that communicate with each other.

• Each service is responsible for a specific task or functionality.

• Communication between services is done through APIs or message queues.

• The architecture allows for scalability and flexibility.

• Examples of microservices used in the project include user management, payment processing, and inventory management.

Program to check if a given number is prime or not.

• A prime number is only divisible by 1 and itself.

• Loop through numbers from 2 to n/2 and check if n is divisible by any of them.

• If n is divisible by any number, it is not prime.

• If n is not divisible by any number, it is prime.

I have extensive experience executing Windows code using C++, focusing on system-level programming and application development.

• Windows API: I have utilized the Windows API for creating GUI applications, such as using Win32 functions to manage windows and handle events.

• Multithreading: Implemented multithreading in C++ applications using Windows threads to improve performance and responsiveness in applications.

• COM Programming: Developed components using Component Object Model (...read more

Generate the next generation of cells in a 2x2 grid based on specific rules.

• Each cell can be alive (1) or dead (0).

• Rules for cell survival: Alive cells with 2 or 3 neighbors survive; dead cells with exactly 3 neighbors become alive.

• Example: Current generation [[1, 0], [0, 1]] results in [[0, 1], [1, 0]].

• Consider edge cases like all cells dead or all cells alive.

Design a key value store with get, put, ttl, expire

• Use a hash table to store key-value pairs

• Implement put() to add a new key-value pair

• Implement get() to retrieve the value for a given key

• Implement ttl() to set a time-to-live for a key

• Implement expire() to delete a key-value pair after its time-to-live has expired

A notification system design for software engineering.

• Identify the types of notifications needed

• Determine the target audience for each notification

• Choose the appropriate delivery method (email, push notification, etc.)

• Design a user-friendly interface for managing notifications

• Implement a system for tracking and analyzing notification engagement

• Ensure the system is scalable and can handle high volumes of notifications

C++ commonly uses design patterns like Singleton, Factory, Observer, and Strategy to solve recurring design problems.

• Singleton: Ensures a class has only one instance (e.g., a configuration manager).

• Factory: Creates objects without specifying the exact class (e.g., shape creation in a graphics application).

• Observer: Allows objects to subscribe and receive updates (e.g., event handling in GUI applications).

• Strategy: Enables selecting an algorithm at runtime (e.g., sorting algor...read more

The question involves writing React code in HackerRank.

• Understand the requirements of the task before starting to write the code.

• Use React components to create a user interface.

• Handle state management and user interactions using React hooks.

• Write clean and efficient code to solve the problem.

• Test the code thoroughly before submitting.

The running window problem involves analyzing data over a specific time frame, often used in streaming applications.

• Sliding Window Technique: This approach maintains a subset of data within a defined window size, allowing for efficient calculations.

• Real-Time Analytics: For example, calculating the average temperature over the last 10 minutes in a weather monitoring system.

• Data Stream Processing: Used in applications like monitoring user activity on a website, where you might ...read more

The Two Sum problem involves finding two numbers in an array that add up to a specific target sum.

• Use a hash map to store numbers and their indices for quick lookup.

• Iterate through the array, checking if the complement (target - current number) exists in the hash map.

• Example: For nums = [2, 7, 11, 15] and target = 9, return indices [0, 1] since 2 + 7 = 9.

• Time complexity is O(n) due to a single pass through the array.

• Space complexity is O(n) for storing elements in the hash ma...read more

Design a side bar with lot of elements

• Consider using a collapsible menu for better organization

• Use icons or symbols for each element to save space

• Implement a search bar for easy navigation

• Include categories or sections to group similar elements together

Design a secure and efficient payment system for credit cards

• Implement tokenization to securely store credit card information

• Use encryption to protect sensitive data during transactions

• Integrate with payment gateways like Stripe or PayPal for processing payments

• Implement fraud detection algorithms to prevent unauthorized transactions

Passwordless SSH allows for secure and convenient access between machines.

• Generate SSH key pair on local machine using ssh-keygen command

• Copy public key to remote machine's authorized_keys file

• Ensure correct permissions on .ssh directory and authorized_keys file

• Test SSH connection without password prompt

Phone book application to store and manage contacts

• Allow users to add, edit, delete contacts

• Implement search functionality to find contacts quickly

• Include features like call, message, email directly from the app

Advanced JavaScript involves concepts like closures, promises, async/await, and the event loop.

• Closures: Functions that remember their lexical scope, e.g., function outer() { let x = 10; return function inner() { return x; }; }

• Promises: Objects representing the eventual completion (or failure) of an asynchronous operation, e.g., let promise = new Promise((resolve, reject) => { /* async code */ });

• Async/Await: Syntactic sugar over promises for cleaner asynchronous code, e.g., ...read more

Eventbrite is a platform for creating, promoting, and managing events.

• Allow users to create events with details like date, time, location, and ticket types

• Provide tools for promoting events through social media and email marketing

• Include features for managing RSVPs, ticket sales, and attendee check-ins

Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) is a paradigm based on objects, encapsulating data and behavior for better code organization.

• Encapsulation: Bundling data and methods that operate on the data within one unit (e.g., a class).

• Inheritance: Mechanism to create a new class based on an existing class, inheriting its properties (e.g., a 'Dog' class inheriting from an 'Animal' class).

• Polymorphism: Ability to present the same interface for different underlying forms (e.g., method ove...read more