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Software Engineer Interview Questions
Practice 9403 coding, system design and machine learning questions from 546 companies, sorted by role, topic and interview round. Every question has step-by-step hints, a code runner that supports 8 languages and an AI mentor; members also get the full solution walkthrough.
- 9403
- Questions
- 546
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- 11
- Topics
- 8
- Languages
Showing 631–660 of 2810 results
- ByteDanceMediumSoftware EngineerHandle Communication Difficulty and Ambiguity on a Project
Use a concrete project to show how you made ambiguous decisions and communication friction visible, aligned owners and deadlines, managed residual uncertainty, and protected delivery.
Behavioral & LeadershipTechnical Screen - ByteDanceHardSoftware EngineerHandle Island Counting When the Grid Does Not Fit in Memory
This problem tests the ability to adapt graph traversal algorithms (like BFS or DFS) to scenarios where the dataset exceeds primary memory, requiring disk-based processing or tiling strategies.
Software Engineering FundamentalsTechnical ScreenGraph AlgorithmsSystem DesignExternal Memory - ByteDanceHardSoftware EngineerImplement Expiring LRU Cache
This question evaluates skill in designing and implementing efficient in-memory caching data structures, testing understanding of LRU eviction, per-entry TTL expiration, and the use of hash maps and linked lists for O(1) operations.
Coding & AlgorithmsTechnical Screen - ByteDanceHardSoftware EngineerImplement a binary min-heap and use it to order courses with prerequisites
A two-part coding question: implement a binary min-heap with push, pop, peek and linear-time construction without library helpers, then use it to order courses with prerequisites, always taking the smallest-numbered available course and detecting circular prerequisites. Tests heap mechanics and dependency ordering.
Software Engineering FundamentalsTechnical Screen - ByteDanceMediumSoftware EngineerImplement an Idempotent Versioned Database Update
Tests your ability to design and implement a concurrency-safe, idempotent record update operation using optimistic concurrency control and deduplication keys.
Software Engineering FundamentalsTechnical ScreenDistributed SystemsConcurrencyAPI Design - ByteDanceMediumSoftware EngineerImplement an LRU Cache
This problem tests your ability to combine a hash map and a doubly linked list to achieve constant-time performance for cache operations.
Coding & AlgorithmsTechnical ScreenHash MapDoubly Linked ListDesign - ByteDanceMediumSoftware EngineerInfer an Alien Alphabet from Sorted Words
This problem tests graph theory knowledge, specifically topological sorting using Kahn's algorithm or DFS, applied to dependency resolution between characters.
Coding & AlgorithmsTechnical ScreenGraphTopological SortBFS - ByteDanceMediumSoftware EngineerIntersect Two Sorted Lists of Disjoint Intervals
Intersect two sorted lists of disjoint closed intervals in linear time, retaining one-point endpoint overlaps and advancing whichever current interval ends first.
Coding & AlgorithmsTechnical Screen - ByteDanceMediumSoftware EngineerMerge Overlapping Closed Intervals
This problem tests your ability to manipulate sorted data structures and manage interval boundaries to optimize overlapping segments in linear or log-linear time.
Coding & AlgorithmsTechnical ScreenSortingGreedyArray - ByteDanceMediumSoftware EngineerMerge Overlapping Time Windows
Merge unsorted half-open time windows into sorted, non-overlapping intervals while leaving merely adjacent windows separate. Handle duplicate and nested ranges, large timestamps, large input, and empty collections under exact boundary semantics.
Coding & AlgorithmsTechnical Screen - ByteDanceMediumSoftware EngineerMinimize Increments to Equalize Path Costs
This problem tests your ability to manipulate tree node values to satisfy a global constraint using a bottom-up dynamic programming or greedy approach.
Coding & AlgorithmsTechnical ScreenTreesGreedyRecursion - ByteDanceMediumSoftware EngineerPrevent a Cache Stampede on a Hot Key
This question tests the ability to design robust cache-aside mechanisms to prevent database overload during cache expiration events for high-traffic keys.
System DesignTechnical ScreenCachingDistributed SystemsHigh Availability - ByteDanceMediumSoftware EngineerRemove Duplicate Letters Lexicographically
This problem tests your ability to use a monotonic stack combined with frequency tracking to construct a specific subsequence while maintaining lexicographical order.
Coding & AlgorithmsTechnical ScreenStackStringGreedy - ByteDanceEasySoftware EngineerReturn the Most Frequent Integer with a Stable Tie-Breaker
Implement a frequency-based selection over a large integer array: return the most common value, using the numerically smallest value to break ties. Preserve the input and return the value itself rather than its count or position.
Coding & AlgorithmsTechnical Screen - ByteDanceMediumSoftware EngineerReverse Nodes in K-Sized Groups
This problem tests your ability to manipulate linked list pointers by reversing sub-segments of a list while maintaining structural integrity.
Coding & AlgorithmsTechnical ScreenLinked ListPointersRecursion - ByteDanceMediumSoftware EngineerShortest Path in a Grid with Limited Obstacle Removal
This problem tests your ability to adapt Breadth-First Search (BFS) to a state-space graph where the state includes both spatial coordinates and a remaining resource constraint.
Coding & AlgorithmsTechnical ScreenBFSShortest PathState Space Search - ByteDanceHardSoftware EngineerSimulate a fixed-capacity least-recently-used cache over get and put operations
Implement a fixed-capacity cache that evicts the least recently used key, processing a sequence of get and put operations and returning the result of every get. Tests recency bookkeeping, update versus insert semantics, eviction order and constant-time operations.
Coding & AlgorithmsTechnical Screen - ByteDanceMediumSoftware EngineerSolve interval merging and histogram area
This question evaluates algorithmic problem-solving skills focused on interval manipulation and histogram-based area computation, emphasizing data structures, ordering, and reasoning about time and space complexity.
Coding & AlgorithmsTechnical Screen - ByteDanceHardSoftware EngineerSplit n People Into Two Groups So No Pair Who Dislike Each Other Shares a Group
Given n people and a list of pairs who dislike each other, decide whether everyone can be divided into two groups of any size so that no disliking pair shares a group. The problem tests reasoning about pairwise constraints, people with no constraints, and a solution that runs in time linear in the number of people and pairs.
Coding & AlgorithmsTechnical Screen - ByteDanceMediumSoftware EngineerTCP vs UDP: Key Differences and the Applications That Suit Each
From a TikTok backend intern interview: compare TCP and UDP, including connection setup, reliability, ordering, flow and congestion control, message boundaries and overhead, and explain which applications suit each protocol. It tests tying transport-layer guarantees and their costs to real application needs.
Software Engineering FundamentalsTechnical Screen - ByteDanceHardSoftware EngineerTell Me About a Challenge You Faced at Work and How You Worked Through It
A behavioral question from a one-hour software engineering phone screen asks you to describe a challenge you faced and how you handled it. It tests whether you can pick a story with real stakes, make your own decisions and reasoning clear, report a concrete result, and reflect on what you would change, all within a few minutes.
Behavioral & LeadershipTechnical Screen - ByteDanceMediumSoftware EngineerTrace and Debug Agent Tool-Call Failures
Design a distributed observability and tracing system to monitor, debug, and diagnose multi-step agent tool-call failures across retries and execution stages without leaking sensitive data.
System DesignTechnical ScreenDistributed TracingObservabilityAI Agents - Candid HealthEasySoftware EngineerImplement a Callback Signaling Registry with Register, Unregister and Signal
Implement a minimal in-process signaling system with register_callback, unregister_callback and signal functions that all return None. Tests requirement clarification, callback storage and hashability, execution order, isolation of failing callbacks, and prevention of reentrant signal loops.
Software Engineering FundamentalsTechnical Screen - Capital OneMediumSoftware EngineerAnswer learning and challenge behavioral prompts
This question evaluates learning agility, problem-solving, influence, and leadership competencies by probing quick learning, process-challenging, and trade-off management in real work scenarios.
Behavioral & LeadershipTechnical Screen - Capital OneMediumSoftware EngineerAnswer motivation and teamwork questions
The question evaluates motivation, cultural fit, communication, teamwork, conflict-resolution, and the ability to describe concrete impact from collaborative work.
Behavioral & LeadershipTechnical Screen - Capital OneMediumSoftware EngineerBehavioral: Using AI Tools in Daily Engineering Work and to Improve Efficiency
A behavioral interview question for software engineers about AI tools: how you use them in day-to-day engineering work, and a specific example of how they improved your efficiency. It tests concrete examples, how AI output is verified, judgment about confidential code and data, and honest, measured results.
Behavioral & LeadershipTechnical Screen - Capital OneMediumSoftware EngineerCard Issuer Backend: Fast Purchase Approvals and a Secure PII Vault
Design the issuer-side platform that approves or declines card purchases in tens of milliseconds, settles them later, and stores cardholder identity data so a breach of any one service exposes as little as possible.
System DesignTechnical Screensystem-designpaymentslatency - Capital OneMediumSoftware EngineerCount Numbers With Odd Zeros
This question evaluates proficiency in numeric digit analysis and parity-based counting, testing the competency to reason about decimal representations of integers within the Coding & Algorithms domain at a practical application level. It is commonly asked to assess basic algorithmic thinking, efficient iteration and counting skills, and careful handling of edge cases in technical interviews.
Coding & AlgorithmsTechnical Screen - Capital OneMediumSoftware EngineerDesign a Buy-Now-Pay-Later Checkout Backend: Latency and PII Storage
Design the backend of a buy-now-pay-later checkout financing service that approves or declines a purchase in real time against a shopper's revolving credit line, then go deep on latency budgeting for the decision and on securely storing borrowers' personal data.
System DesignTechnical Screensystem-designfintechconcurrency - Capital OneMediumSoftware EngineerDesign a Credit Card System: Authorization Latency and Sensitive Data Storage
A system design question that asks for the backend of a credit card system, then goes deep on what payment authorization latency is reasonable and how to achieve it, and on how to store cardholders' sensitive personal information. It tests transaction flow design, available-credit concurrency, latency budgeting, and data protection.
System DesignTechnical Screen
Capital One