🚀
Top 20 Most Asked Programming Questions (With Detailed Explanation &
Solutions)
These are the most commonly asked coding questions in technical interviews, categorized for
freshers and beginners.
1. Reverse a String
🔹 Problem: Write a function to reverse a given string.
💡 Explanation: Strings can be reversed using slicing in Python.
✅ Solution (Python):
Python
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def reverse_string(s):
return s[::-1]
print(reverse_string("hello")) # Output: "olleh"
2. Check If a String is a Palindrome
🔹 Problem: Determine if a string reads the same forward and backward.
💡 Explanation: Compare the string with its reverse.
✅ Solution (Python):
Python
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def is_palindrome(s):
return s == s[::-1]
print(is_palindrome("madam")) # Output: True
print(is_palindrome("hello")) # Output: False
3. Find the Factorial of a Number
🔹 Problem: Compute the factorial of a number using recursion.
💡 Explanation: Factorial is defined as n! = n * (n-1)!.
✅ Solution (Python):
Python
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def factorial(n):
if n == 0 or n == 1:
return 1
return n * factorial(n - 1)
print(factorial(5)) # Output: 120
4. Fibonacci Series (Iterative & Recursive)
🔹 Problem: Generate the Fibonacci sequence up to n numbers.
💡 Explanation: Each term is the sum of the previous two terms.
✅ Solution (Python - Iterative):
Python
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def fibonacci(n):
a, b = 0, 1
for _ in range(n):
print(a, end=" ")
a, b = b, a + b
fibonacci(10) # Output: 0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34
5. Check for Prime Number
🔹 Problem: Determine if a number is prime.
💡 Explanation: A prime number is divisible only by 1 and itself.
✅ Solution (Python):
Python
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def is_prime(n):
if n < 2:
return False
for i in range(2, int(n ** 0.5) + 1):
if n % i == 0:
return False
return True
print(is_prime(11)) # Output: True
6. Find the Largest Element in an Array
🔹 Problem: Find the maximum value in a list.
💡 Explanation: Use the max() function or iterate through the list.
✅ Solution (Python):
Python
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def find_max(arr):
return max(arr)
print(find_max([3, 5, 7, 2, 8])) # Output: 8
7. Find the Second Largest Element in an Array
🔹 Problem: Find the second largest number in a list.
💡 Explanation: Sort the unique elements and pick the second one.
✅ Solution (Python):
Python
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def second_largest(arr):
unique_sorted = sorted(set(arr), reverse=True)
return unique_sorted[1] if len(unique_sorted) > 1 else None
print(second_largest([10, 20, 4, 45, 99])) # Output: 45
8. Find Missing Number in an Array (1 to n)
🔹 Problem: Find the missing number in a sequence from 1 to n.
💡 Explanation: Use the sum formula for n natural numbers.
✅ Solution (Python):
Python
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def missing_number(arr, n):
return n * (n + 1) // 2 - sum(arr)
print(missing_number([1, 2, 3, 5], 5)) # Output: 4
9. Find Duplicate Numbers in an Array
🔹 Problem: Identify duplicate elements in a list.
✅ Solution (Python):
Python
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def find_duplicates(arr):
return list(set([x for x in arr if arr.count(x) > 1]))
print(find_duplicates([1, 2, 3, 2, 4, 5, 1])) # Output: [1, 2]
10. Check if Two Strings are Anagrams
🔹 Problem: Determine if two strings are anagrams.
✅ Solution (Python):
Python
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def is_anagram(str1, str2):
return sorted(str1) == sorted(str2)
print(is_anagram("listen", "silent")) # Output: True
11. Find the Intersection of Two Lists
Python
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def list_intersection(list1, list2):
return list(set(list1) & set(list2))
print(list_intersection([1, 2, 3, 4], [3, 4, 5, 6])) # Output: [3, 4]
12. Remove Duplicates from a List
Python
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def remove_duplicates(arr):
return list(set(arr))
print(remove_duplicates([1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5])) # Output: [1, 2, 3,
4, 5]
13. Implement Binary Search
Python
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def binary_search(arr, target):
left, right = 0, len(arr) - 1
while left <= right:
mid = (left + right) // 2
if arr[mid] == target:
return mid
elif arr[mid] < target:
left = mid + 1
else:
right = mid - 1
return -1
14. Find the First Non-Repeating Character in a String
Python
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from collections import Counter
def first_unique(s):
count = Counter(s)
for char in s:
if count[char] == 1:
return char
return None
print(first_unique("aabbcde")) # Output: "c"
15. Reverse a Linked List
Python
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def reverse_linked_list(head):
prev, curr = None, head
while curr:
next_node = curr.next
curr.next = prev
prev = curr
curr = next_node
return prev
16. Implement a Stack using a List
Python
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class Stack:
def __init__(self):
self.stack = []
def push(self, val):
self.stack.append(val)
def pop(self):
return self.stack.pop() if self.stack else None
17. Check If a Linked List has a Cycle
Python
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def has_cycle(head):
slow, fast = head, head
while fast and fast.next:
slow = slow.next
fast = fast.next.next
if slow == fast:
return True
return False
18. Find the Power of a Number
Python
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def power(x, y):
return x ** y
print(power(2, 3)) # Output: 8
19. Find the GCD of Two Numbers
Python
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import math
def gcd(a, b):
return math.gcd(a, b)
print(gcd(56, 98)) # Output: 14
20. Find the LCM of Two Numbers
Python
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def lcm(a, b):
return abs(a * b) // math.gcd(a, b)
print(lcm(12, 18)) # Output: 36
