20 of Google's hardest interview questions for software engineers
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Table of Contents
- Introduction
- 20 of Google's hardest interview questions
- 1. Prove P=NP
- 4. Implement an LRU Cache
- 7. Find the minimum number required to insert into a word to make it a palindrome
- 10. Write an API to start Google Now, when saying "Ok Google"
- 13. Given a collection of intervals, merge all overlapping intervals
- 16. Implement a circular buffer and make it thread-safe
- Conclusion
- Next Steps
Introduction
Google is notorious for asking hard interview questions. Many Software Engineers find their coding challenges extremely difficult, taking many months to prepare their skills. Programmers stay up all night solving problems on whiteboards, training to get the chance to work at Google. Writing production code that scales to billions of users can be difficult, so they look for the brightest of minds. Here are the hardest interview questions reported by Software Engineers inside their Google Interview.
20 of Google's hardest interview questions
1. Prove P=NP
2. Find the deepest node of a binary tree. If multiple nodes are at the deepest level, then return the rightmost node
3. In Python, what is a generator?
4. Implement an LRU Cache
5. Given a graph as input, write a java method returning boolean true if the graph is bipartite, else false
6. Given an 8x8 chessboard, write a function to determine how many moves it would take for a bishop to go from a start location to an end location. Then write a function to determine how spaces it would move
7. Find the minimum number required to insert into a word to make it a palindrome
8. Find the n-th digit of a number which is constructed by concatenation of all natural numbers
9. A square matrix of size n^2 and random entries from 0 ... n^2, find the longest sequence of consecutive neighbors (i.e. top, left, bottom, right entries)
10. Write an API to start Google Now, when saying "Ok Google"
11. Explain the details of MapReduce
12. Given a binary tree and inorder traversal, construct a new binary tree with additional pointers such that the inorder traversal is reflected in the new tree
13. Given a collection of intervals, merge all overlapping intervals
14. Reverse a linked list without using temporary variables
15. Randomize an array, ensuring no items are in the same position they were in originally
16. Implement a circular buffer and make it thread-safe
17. Rotate an m*n image that is stored in an array
18. Describe memory fragmentation and how it relates to the garbage collector
19. How would I implement the autocomplete function on an iPhone or Google search?
20. Design a cache with O(1) search time and delete time.
Conclusion
Preparing for a Coding Interview? We suggest Cracking the Coding Interview, written by an ex-Googler, giving you the best chance at passing your interview.
Next Steps
If you're interested in learning more about the basics of coding, programming, and software development, check out our Coding Essentials Guidebook for Developers, where we cover the essential languages, concepts, and tools that you'll need to become a professional developer.
Thanks and happy coding! We hope you enjoyed this article. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out to jacob@initialcommit.io.
Final Notes
Recommended product: Coding Essentials Guidebook for Developers
