Software Developer interview questions and answers

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Software Developer Interview Questions

Software Developers are the heart of an engineering department, as they build fully functional systems and applications. They upgrade and maintain existing software, and ensure compliance with coding and design standards.

During your interview process, test candidates’ technical knowledge along with their hands-on experience with software solutions. Depending on the seniority level of your position, consider asking more complex programming interview questions that reveal candidates’ way of thinking. Include a written assignment to evaluate how potential hires approach projects.

For this role, a BSc in Computer Science (or relevant discipline) is usually the minimum required education. Keep an eye out for candidates who are interested in growing their skills. Participation in technical forums, side projects (e.g. game development) and hackathons are signs of passionate Software Developers who like to learn and evolve as professionals.

Operational and Situational questions

• How do you ensure that debugging a program while it’s being used will not affect its functionality?
• If you were reviewing somebody else’s code, where would you place most of your focus?
• What features, if any, would you like to add to Java and/or Ruby? Why?
• We want to install a new software system. What steps would you take to meet our needs before software deployment? (e.g. research methods)

Role-specific questions

• When do you use polymorphism and when do you use delegates?
• What are the most effective techniques to prioritize program requirements?
• What are the differences between String, StringBuilder and StringBuffer in Java?
• Are you familiar with cloud systems? What are their pros and cons?
• Describe the programming processes at work from the time you type in a website’s URL to when it finishes loading on your screen.

Behavioral questions

• What is your field of expertise and what would you like to learn more about? Why?
• Describe a time when a program you developed didn’t run. How did you troubleshoot your code?
• What’s a fun project that you’ve worked on recently? What was your role in it?
• Describe a time when you managed to reduce the user’s perception of waiting. What features did you use?
• What’s your most successful project so far? What was your role? Describe the challenges you faced during this project.