MockQuestions

Software Developer Mock Interview

30 Questions Created By

To help you prepare for your Software Developer interview, here are 30 interview questions and answer examples.

First Question

30 Software Developer Interview Questions

20 Interview Questions With Sample Answers

1.   Can you describe a challenging software development project you recently completed and the results?

How to Answer

Ideally, you have encountered some of the same challenges that the organization has during your software developer experience. The interviewer hopes to confirm this. It demonstrates that you will address the challenges and problems they encounter and help them resolve them quickly. Organizations hire people to either fill a vacant role or expand their team. In either case, they expect the candidate to bring a fresh perspective to the organization and skills, experience, and knowledge they currently don't have on their team. Your answer to this and all the questions they ask should affirm this.

Written by William Swansen on August 20th, 2021

Answer Example

"The most challenging software project I've worked on recently involved an application to allow the company's personnel to self-manage their HR benefits. The challenge was that end-users had to have secure access to their own information without the HR staff intervening. This required me to implement several security features, including user authentication, password protection, and the ability for users to access the company's database behind its firewall via VPNs. Recognizing that I did not have recent experience in these technologies, I refreshed my skills by taking a short online course and collaborated with some of the other developers on our team on the project. Together we developed the software on schedule and under budget. I learned to recognize my shortcomings and bring in additional resources when needed."

Written by William Swansen on August 20th, 2021

2.   What are some of the types of development projects you have worked on in your past positions?

How to Answer

Organizations prefer to hire candidates who have direct experience with the type of work they do. An interviewer will ask this question to determine if you've recently done the type of work they want to hire you for. During an interview, all your answers should address the needs of the employer. It would be best to discover these during your pre-interview research about the company, its products, and practices. You can find the information you need in the job posting and on the company's website.

Written by William Swansen on August 20th, 2021

Answer Example

"In my last two roles, I was focused on improving applications which manage transactions and interact with relational database systems. My role in the application development was developing all the code to control data queries, lookups, and indexing of the data. I worked with other programmers to design the interface, manage the backend database, and develop other application features. The companies I worked for were focused on e-commerce, conducting sales and other transactions via their websites."

Written by William Swansen on August 20th, 2021

3.   I've heard applications referred to as both software and programs. Which terminology do you use, and how do these differ?

How to Answer

During a software developer interview, you will be asked to discuss terms, processes, and other aspects of your job. An interviewer will ask these questions to explore your knowledge, skills, experience, and qualifications for this job. When presented with two similar but different terms, you should be prepared to compare and contrast them. Start by defining each term and then discussing their differences.

Written by William Swansen on August 20th, 2021

Answer Example

"It is common for people to confuse these terms. While they are similar, there are subtle differences between them. My definition of these terms is that a computer program is a set of code that executes specific tasks. This typically takes the form of an application. Computer software is any code that performs a function on a computing device. These can include the operating system, drivers, system software, APIs, applications, and other code. Computer software includes computer programs, but computer programs don't always include all the software. Computer Software is more machine-centric, while computer programs are more user-centric."

Written by William Swansen on August 20th, 2021

4.   How would you define software configuration management?

How to Answer

In simple terms, software configuration management systematically manages, tracks, and controls changes that happen in the software development lifecycle. This includes changes in the code, documentation, and process. Change control, however unpopular, is a function that ensures all changes made to the software system are consistent with development practices and internal methodologies. The ultimate goal is to see productivity improvement with a minimal amount of mistakes throughout the development lifecycle. Here the interviewer is looking for how you prioritize configuration management duties and responsibilities and your experience controlling something even if you don't know what it is. This can be tricky, so let me explain. Configuration management is used if multiple team members are working on software or revision running on multiple machines or needs constant updating. Another reason is if a company has multiple locations or divisions that need to distribute work concurrently.

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

1st Answer Example

"My definition of software configuration management is a set of activities that identify several items including source code modules, test cases, requirements specification documents, tools used, objects, files, and CSCI in SCM repositories, to name a few. There are also other important activities that I coincide with these actions as well. I look at a baseline that lets me know the accepted version of a software configuration item. The second is change control, which is a method that ensures quality and consistency when changes are made. Third on this list are configuration audits which verify that the software meets the minimum baseline needs and that the deliverable is being met."

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

2nd Answer Example

"I follow several protocols and procedures to ensure maximum efficiency and the highest quality deliverability when it comes to software configuration management. Here's a breakdown of what I address in the course of my configuration management duties.

Change Management is a procedural method that ensures quality and consistency when changes are made to a particular object. It also manages during the software development lifecycle.
Software Configuration Management Plan - Follow IEEE standards, fix versioning policies and change control, define tools for use, define naming conventions and documentation, and configure management database during the Software Configuration Management (SCM) process.
Version Control - Use an archiving method to save all changes made to all files.
Concurrency Management - When two or more tasks or project activities happen concurrently."

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

5.   What is software scope, and what does the process involve?

How to Answer

Software scope is a set of activities and actions to be performed as part of the delivery of a software product. Software scope should be well defined with phase-by-phase milestones, functionalities, and deliverable components. A question like this will be asked regardless of what experience level you are at in software development. This is a fundamental question that all software developers should know and should know well. Let me give you some clarifying pointers that you can use for a better explanation and response. Software scope identifies a few different but important elements, including what the product will do, what is outside the scope of the project (what is not to be done), what is the timeline for completion of the project, who is documenting the list of deliverables, goals, tasks, and what the estimated cost of the project will be. One more part should be covered because it comes up more times than not in an interview. Project Scope creep is when the project experiences changes or uncontrolled growth during the project. This is because the project was not well defined, documented, or controlled early in the project specification phase.

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

1st Answer Example

"Software scope for me is relatively easy because, at my current company, I'm involved at every stage of the documentation and project delivery process. It is my responsibility to identify all aspects of the project scope, including but not limited to what the end product will do, what the expected timeline will be, who needs to approve deliverables at every phase, what the goals and tasks will be for assigned team members, how the features will work and their characteristics, and what the estimated cost will be for the final product. As part of my due diligence, I always draft a Project scope document that includes items that are not part of the scope of work. This helps eliminate any confusion or miscommunication with the end client."

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

2nd Answer Example

"The way that I define a scope of work project is to identify milestones for a project and present them to the end customer for approval so that we don't get project scope creep or delays. As with all projects, I take a broad view of all aspects of the project to ensure it is being addressed at all levels and that we don't have any surprises. One of the safeguards that I take is to make sure the team is experienced and can deliver even under tight deadlines. In a recent project, I managed the entire project scope process all the way to the delivery of the end product. I was involved in all aspects of the project, even the customer interaction, and milestone approvals."

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

6.   Do you have a preferred language that you like to write programming algorithms?

How to Answer

No matter what level of expertise, every developer has their views and opinions when it comes to programming language choices. It's much like a toolbox; you use them based on the specific need to solve a problem or fix something. One of the reasons an interviewer will ask this question is to see what range of tools you have used and which you prefer using. It always helps to start by stating that you have used several languages and have a high confidence level with all of them, but if you had to pick, give them a range and narrow to one of your favorites. Don't be surprised if an interviewer asks why you like that language and what benefit it gives you. If the interview is going well, it wouldn't be a bad idea to talk about some of the strengths and weaknesses of a few that you have used.
As a reference, the top languages likely be Python, Java, JavaScript, C, C#, Ruby, PHP, Swift, and SQL.

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

1st Answer Example

"Every software developer has a preferred language, and I'm no different. There are a few that I like and would put on my preferred list. Let me start by giving you a few that I have found very useful in various environments. Perl is probably is among the top for me for several reasons. Compared to Python, it is about three times as fast when reading PASTA files, and it only needs half the storage space to store sequences in memory. Java is another one of my preferred favorites, again for many reasons. Not only is it good for programming algorithms, but it can be used across multiple platforms, including web applications. Lastly, in this group, I need to include C# because it requires less memory for holding strings and less time to read these types of files than most other languages."

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

2nd Answer Example

"There are some other programming languages that I have used that I like more than others. C, for example, is a great programming language that gives me the ability to utilize and embed it within other environments for things like standardizing libraries, compiling, and tokenization. I also have a preference for operating systems that run on programming languages. I have found that Windows and Linux both have strengths and weaknesses based on what you are using them for and what you're expecting for an outcome. When I use C# and Python, Windows seemed to work a little faster than Linux. Again, this is based on my experience using different tools."

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

7.   What is your opinion on a feasibility study, and when should it be done?

How to Answer

As a Software Developer, you need to look at things from a broader perspective to gain a bigger picture of what your internal customer (department) or external customer (client) really wants. In the early stages of the software development cycle, you may find that a feasibility study might be required. There are two important factors to consider before determining whether or not a feasibility study is required. A feasibility study is really broken down into two important categories. The first is Technical in nature, and the second is an Operational view. An interviewer wants to know if you follow protocol by offering a feasibility study to the client or go through the motions of your job. It's important to mention this in your interview because it helps crystallize in the interviewer's mind that you go above and beyond the norm to get the job done right. Again, the interviewer is asking for your opinion, so it's important to express your opinion to explain why you think it should or shouldn't be performed.

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

1st Answer Example

"In my current role, I was asked by senior management whether or not feasibility would provide insight into potential productivity improvements and cost-saving measures within the organization. I took on planning and execution for a feasibility study to determine what type of outcome we could expect. I gathered a team, formed a committee, and assigned each team member a task, goal, and phased timeline to report their findings. After the feasibility study was completed, we analyzed the data and found that there was just cause to perform a full-scale feasibility study. The results provided insightful information about what areas the company needed further analysis and other areas that started seeing improvements. We selected the technology, production, operations, and accounting for this study. After analyzing the data, I provided a draft of our findings to management for review for accuracy, relevance, and completeness. I was praised for this project since it did help the selected departments in every aspect of the operation."

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

2nd Answer Example

"When I'm presented with a question about whether or not a feasibility study should be performed, I take the time to ask relevant questions to determine if this is a good course of action. My approach is to analyze data and relevant information provided to see if it will produce the outcome that the department or client is looking for. There are two important categories and one sub-category that I use to assess the data. The first is the Technical environment, and the second is the Operational environment. The third is more of a sub-category, and this is the Economic factor. Each plays a vital role in how or why feasibility is conducted. In my opinion, the main reason why a feasibility study should or shouldn't be conducted is to provide whether or not a company should move forward with an action or plan."

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

8.   As part of software development, were you involved with working on functional and non-functional requirements?

How to Answer

In short, functional requirements are functional features that users expect from a proposed software product. Non-functional requirements, on the other hand, are more related to security, performance, and the look and feel of the user interface, a.k.a. (UI). For a project to be successful, it is critically essential that both the customer and the project delivery teams have a clear definition and agreement on what the project scope and detailed requirements are going to be.

There are three types of requirements: conscious, unconscious, and unidentified or TBD requirements.
When a hiring manager asks this question, they want to know if part of your job requires gathering and analyzing functional or non-functional requirements. For functional requirements gathering, they will want to hear how the system behaves under certain conditions within its environment, how it responds to inputs, and what outputs it generates. As far as non-functional requirements, they will want to also hear things like constraints on the system, quality attributes, security, performance, and availability.

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

1st Answer Example

"Yes, I work with cross-functional teams within our organization on functional and non-functional requirements. I take a unique approach to how I address these types of requirements. It's a step-by-step method, really. There are three requirement types that I use--conscious, unconscious, and unknown requirements. Consciousness is when stakeholders have a high-level awareness of the basic requirements. Unconscious is what stakeholders would like to see but didn't translate the message clearly enough to see the desired result. This stakeholder assumes that the work they envisioned will be delivered, which in most cases falls short of their expectation. Unknown is the type that has yet to be imagined or realized. Stakeholders typically don't give input into this type because they assume it is not achievable or cannot be delivered as expected."

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

2nd Answer Example

"Gathering functional and non-functional requirements is part of my daily duties and responsibilities. One of the common non-functional requirements from a business unit is "I want to be able to have a response time of X minutes for our technical team to resolve a customer problem." I normally ask the business unit contacts for quantitative data to analyze it to see if this data can be measured and researched so I can find out how to best solve this problem for them. This requires me to collaborate with analysts and designers to better understand the architecture of the system to identify where there may be bottlenecks, conflicts or issues, and how I can reduce that risk."

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

9.   Making a comparison, how would you differentiate between Quality Assurance and Quality Control?

How to Answer

Anyone in the quality field, be it Software (IT), Engineering, Production, etc., should be able to differentiate between the two. Depending on what specific role you have with a quality task, it will be wide-ranging. To help you understand the difference between the two, let me give you a better idea of what they actually are and what they do. In short, Quality Assurance checks if proper processes are being followed, while Quality Control deals with maintaining the quality of a software product. If the hiring manager you are meeting with has any responsibility for QA or QC in their department, they will likely ask you to differentiate the two. Things that they might want to hear are things like.....

Quality Assurance - Assures that the approach and/or method used to produce a part are designed and implemented correctly.

Quality Control - A process used to test, verify and identify a defect. It also ensures that the approaches, techniques, and methods are designed and followed correctly.

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

1st Answer Example

"For me, quality control and quality assurance work hand in hand in a software development environment. Every software development project that I work on requires a detailed specification document that includes QA and QC as part of the (SDLC) Software Development Life Cycle.
With Quality Assurance, I always perform the following (Prevent defects in development coding, apply statistical process controls, and define standards that need to be followed). As for Quality Control, I also always perform these tasks as well (Aim to identify and improve the quality of programming code, perform validation early in the development process, and follow pre-defined processes, policies, and standards)."

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

2nd Answer Example

"My role as a software developer requires performing high-level quality control and quality assurance processes and procedures. When I'm developing a product or application, I test the quality to control it better. Quality as another process assures that I am doing the correct testing. It's also important for me to make sure that I establish standards and develop checklists to follow throughout the life cycle of a project. The most important thing for me is maintaining a high-quality, error-free product that meets the customer's expectations. In doing so, I need to follow my quality checklist to ensure I am delivering what the internal or external customers want. The basics that I cover are:

Detect weaknesses and defects
Apply correct processes and procedures
Apply failure prevention and detection practices"

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

10.   What software development process do you prefer to use?

How to Answer

This is an opening or general question an interviewer will ask to begin a conversation, get you talking, find out a little more about you, and collect information they can use for subsequent questions. They are also interested in learning whether the processes you use align with those of their organization. The best way to prepare for this type of question is to research the organization, its software development processes, and the tools it uses. You can learn this from their website, the job description, or by speaking with former and current software development team members.

Written by William Swansen on August 20th, 2021

Answer Example

"The software development process I use the most is the same one I learned early in my career. It begins with a rediscovery process and requirement analysis, which leads to the specifications and software architecture. I then move on to development, testing, implementation, and documentation. After this is done and the software is fully developed, my attention turns to training the aim users, assisting the support team to be prepared to respond to issues, and providing ongoing maintenance, bug fixes, and upgrades."

Written by William Swansen on August 20th, 2021

11.   What are some of the software design patterns that you use, and in what situations do you use them?

How to Answer

Interviewers ask you operational questions during an interview for a software developer's position to determine how you complete the tasks required by this role. They also want to learn that your techniques are similar to those of their current development team. Operational questions are best responded to succinctly and directly. You should always expect follow-up questions when an interviewer is asking about a specific task. This indicates that they have a special interest in the topic they are questioning you about.

Written by William Swansen on August 20th, 2021

Answer Example

"Throughout my career, I've tried several different software design patterns. Some of these were Singleton, MVC, and Iterator. However, the one I use the most is Template. This design pattern helps me code straightforwardly and accelerates the software development cycle. It also results in fewer errors and less debugging."

Written by William Swansen on August 20th, 2021

12.   Are you familiar with Agile and Waterfall? Which of these software development methodologies do you prefer?

How to Answer

An interviewer will ask this question to determine if you are a good fit for their organization. There are a lot of different methodologies software developers can choose from. Regardless of which one you prefer, you'll need to adapt to the software development methodology used by the organization with whom you are interviewing. You can learn about the methodology the company's software development team uses should through your pre-interview research. The methodology you state a preference for should align with the one the company currently uses.

Written by William Swansen on August 20th, 2021

Answer Example

"The software development methodology I use the most and prefer is Agile. The reason I like this iterative framework is due to daily stand-ups. These provide the team with the opportunity to discuss its development goals and any issues that they've encountered. I prefer to use the Agile methodology because it identifies errors and enables them to be corrected at each stage of the process. The result of this is better quality software and a reduced need for debugging toward the end of the project."

Written by William Swansen on August 20th, 2021

13.   What are some of the QA processes you are familiar with and have worked with in the past?

How to Answer

While a software developer may not be directly involved with the testing and quality assurance of the code they develop, who should be familiar with the processes. This will help them code for the requirements of the organization. The interviewer uses this operational question to determine the type of quality control systems you have worked with and confirm that your processes are similar to the ones they use. Even if your experience isn't an exact match to theirs, you should be able to describe how you would quickly transition to their processes.

Written by William Swansen on August 20th, 2021

Answer Example

"Because I develop software using the Agile framework, the quality control processes I encounter the most are the ones used within this framework. I have worked with Waterfall, Just In Time, and SQA as well. I feel comfortable transitioning between QA processes, and I am confident I can easily adapt to the ones that your team is using."

Written by William Swansen on August 20th, 2021

14.   What are some of the testing and debugging processes you use in your software development?

How to Answer

This is either a standalone question or a follow-up to a previous question. If you previously told the interviewer about the QA processes you use, you should now discuss your testing and debugging processes. During an interview, you should always anticipate follow-up questions whenever you answer an interviewer's question. This is why you keep your answers short and direct. It creates an opportunity for the interviewer to dive deeper into the topic if they have a specific interest in it or move on to a new line of questioning.

Written by William Swansen on August 20th, 2021

Answer Example

"I typically use unit testing tools to identify errors in my code when I develop software. I follow this with a debugging process and additional testing of the bug fixes. This is known as White Box Testing. The debugging tools I use most often are GDB and DBX, which are both public domain products. I prefer these because they provide command-line interfaces. I used command-line when in school, and it has always been easier for me to work with than a GUI. Some other tools I use are code-based tracers, profilers, and interpreters."

Written by William Swansen on August 20th, 2021

15.   Talk about the differences between structured English and Pseudo Code?

How to Answer

Let's begin with what structured English and Pseudo Code are. Structured English is the native English language. Its primary purpose is to write the structure of a program module. It uses programming language keywords to achieve this. On the other hand, Pseudo Code is like a programming language without the syntax of any specific language. This question can come in different forms, and each hiring manager will ask it differently, but essentially they are asking the same question. Pseudocode is a kind of structured English used for describing algorithms. It describes the entire logic of an algorithm so that when implementation happens, it is translated line by line into source code. Basically, this is an algorithm question that the hiring manager asks to see if you're old school and if you've written code in Lisp, FORTRAN, or C programming language. This tells the manager how you approach a project, whether it's task structured or methodology driven. Either is not a wrong answer, but you want to ask the interviewer what type of development organization they run early in the interview to answer accordingly.

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

1st Answer Example

"My approach is simple, I take an organized approach to how I write code, and the way I differentiate structured English, and Pseudo Code. First, I make a list of the main tasks that need to be accomplished. Then, I break them down into small manageable tasks that can be explained with a short phrase. It's been my experience that the further I dig into the correlation between pseudo-code and real code, I find that pseudo-code helps me plan the structure but doesn't help me resolve the real-world programming. In my opinion, that's really the bottom line difference in simple terms between the two. Since either is actual programming languages, they act as structured algorithms that can be used in a programming language."

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

2nd Answer Example

"Differentiating between the two requires an explanation of how they work and what they are used for. Having used both in different environments, each comes with its own set of step-by-step procedures. There's a systematic, logical approach that is well-defined, which allows an intelligent system to solve a problem. On the other hand, Pseudocode is a simpler version of a programming code in plain English that uses short phrases to write code for a particular program before it is implemented into a specific programming language. I have used several types of programming languages and algorithms pseudocode to run what-if and if-then-else scenarios."

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

16.   Explain how duplicates are removed from an array without using a library?

How to Answer

If we look at the core of this question, it has to do with an array not finding duplicates. The goal here is to remove duplicates from an integer array without using any collection API class libraries. Several levels of interview questions will come up to test your knowledge of basic to complex problem-solving solutions. This one sits somewhere in the middle of the pack. When an interviewer asks whether or not you need a loop or recursion (depending on your skill level), they are asking the order in which elements are inserted in a Set. Answering with something like 'An array is a static, fixed-length structure that cannot change its length' is probably something that will tell the interviewer that you have a solid understanding of how deleting an array works.

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

1st Answer Example

"Having worked at many levels using arrays and class libraries, this is a pretty straightforward answer. If your input array contains multiple duplicates, this may result in many temporary arrays, some of which may not be needed. With this restriction in mind, I typically figure out how to minimize both memory and hardware requirements. When I need to delete an array using a more defined descriptive logic, the approach I take here is to find duplicate elements in a given array, then run an outer loop to 0 to size. As a next step in the process, I run another inner loop to find the first duplicate using another nested loop. To take it further, inside the inner loop, I also check for duplicate elements. If I find one, then I delete the array element."

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

2nd Answer Example

"I have found there are a few different approaches to removing duplicate elements. There are cases where I need to take one approach if I am not allowed to use collection API's. For this example, here's that approach.

1) Create a new array of the same size as the original array.
2) Match up the current element with other element indexes until you find a mismatch.
3) Add an element to a 'TempArray' and update an element that was found to be a mismatch.
4) Go over the array starting from the index location of '0'."

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

17.   How much do you know about object-oriented programming?

How to Answer

There are two different types of programming. These include Object-Oriented Programming and Functional Programming. Knowing the differences between these two approaches and their benefits is critical for an experienced software developer. Interview questions are meant to probe your knowledge, experience, and qualifications for this position. Interviewers use a wide range of technical questions to help them accomplish this. This is an example of this. Technical questions are easily answered by defining the term you are being asked about and then discussing its features and benefits. You can also provide an example of how it is used to illustrate your answer.

Written by William Swansen on August 20th, 2021

Answer Example

"I am very familiar with Object-Oriented Programming, also known as OOP, and use it a lot. This type of programming defines the data structure, and the types of operations applied to the data. I like this approach because it helps me organize my code logically around a specific parameter. It also makes it easier to maintain and document the code. Finally, objects can be inherited and extended, which accelerates and shortens the software development life cycle."

Written by William Swansen on August 20th, 2021

18.   As a software developer, explain the meaning of debugging, and why it's used?

How to Answer

In the software debugging world, the process starts as soon as code is written and continues in successive stages of the development process and is then combined with other units of programming to form a software product. Since debugging is a multistep process that involves identifying a problem, isolating the source of the problem, and then correcting the problem. Please remember this since a technical manager that knows development and debugging well will quiz you on multiple facets of this area. It's essential to note that hiring managers will want to find out how good the quality of your code is. The reason is they will know how much time you will be spending on the debugging process. If you maintain a high-quality level of code, you'll be doing less debugging. If your code is average or not great, you'll spend a lot more time debugging, which managers might see as a weakness. Please be aware of this.

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

1st Answer Example

"In short, debugging is an important part of determining why an operating system, application or program is behaving abnormally. When I do debug, there are many things that I take into account during this process. For larger lines of code, I conduct unit testing and pair programming, which helps me identify bugs at an earlier stage. I also use the stand-alone debugger tool to identify bugs further. I've always been conscious of my work and only want to put out top-quality work. To further understand where bugs may reside, I also look at the module to see if the problem avails itself. If not, I set up a 'breakpoint' and run a program to see it run its course. After performing debugging and testing, I do come across errors that I address and correct immediately. Some examples are...Syntax errors, Runtime errors, Logic errors, Semantic errors, etc."

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

2nd Answer Example

"The final step I take in the debugging process is to test the correction to ensure it works properly. In a hardware development environment, the debugging process typically looks for hardware components that are not installed or configured correctly. I have several debugging tools at my disposal to remedy these problems. These tools identify coding errors at various stages of development and analyze test runs to see what lines of code were not executed correctly. Other tools I use that help identify problems are source analyzers, including security and common code errors that help in the debugging process."

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

19.   What is verification and validation, and why it is important?

How to Answer

Verification and validation are essential in the software development process. If you can't verify or validate a set of activities to ensure that the software is not implemented correctly, hasn't been built to specification, or is functioning properly, you will surely have problems with your production environment. Interviewers know how important this is and will ask questions about it to ensure that you practice doing your due diligence to ensure the highest quality software development. When questions come up about verification and validation, it might score an extra point in the interview if you give the interview history of how V&V was formed. It is actually an application of Six Sigma and its principles. It was used to design products in the manufacturing and support process areas. It's important to remember if asked that there are two important aspects of software quality management. Verification answers whether the software is being developed correctly, and validation provides the answer to whether the right software is being produced.

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

1st Answer Example

"In my opinion, verification and validation are at the heart of every development project. I take this step very seriously, and it shows in my work. This includes all the steps and procedures of Validation. Prospective validation is important because it is done to ensure the product is functioning properly. Retrospective validation is done against the written specifications and verifies actual data. Periodic validation is used to repair, relocate or dismiss data that serves no purpose. Partial validation is mostly used for research but can come in handy for pilot studies. Cross-validation is suitable for estimating the performance of statistical models. Concurrent validation is usually carried out during regular maintenance or service routines in the post-development process."

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

2nd Answer Example

"To better understand the importance of verification and validation, It would help if I explained these core methodologies and what they do. To better help my explanation, I would like to talk about how it can be used more efficiently, and that would be to eliminate defects using this process. The objective here is to continue process improvement by verifying and validating all the software development processes. Six Sigma quality management plays an important role here, even though it's not mentioned much. These methods offer a methodical way of figuring out the defects and how to rectify them accordingly. It's a unique approach to achieving a high-quality level of zero defects for your environment. Some of the methodologies I have used are DMAIC and DMADV. These work to define, measure, analyze and improve the processes."

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

20.   Describe at a high level what the software development life cycle process is.

How to Answer

SDLC or Software Development Life Cycle is a software development process that produces software in the most efficient way possible. SDLC includes a detailed plan for how a software application can be developed, altered, maintained, or even replaced. SDLC involves several distinct stages, which include planning, design, building, testing, and deployment. Depending on the hiring manager level you are interviewing with, you'll need to answer questions related to the SDLC life cycle. If the manager is hands-on, has a history of writing code, and knows the SDLC, you might want to mention what types of methodologies you have used. Some of the most popular ones are Waterfall, Agile, and Spiral Model. If you're interviewing with a senior-level manager that hasn't done much coding but understands the SDLC, then your answer might be a higher level (strategic response). Either way, it's good to have a solid foundation of how SDLC works. The whole purpose of creating the SDLC foundational architecture is to lower the cost of software development while improving quality and shortening production time.


Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

1st Answer Example

"I have sound knowledge of the entire SDLC process, and have used it as the foundation of my development in my career. During my development career, I have used a few different SDLC methodologies that I am very comfortable with. They are Waterfall, Agile, V-Model, Iterative, and Spiral Model. I fully understand SDLC and the important stages that are required for quality software development and execution. It starts with the following stages:

Requirement analysis
Technical and business specifications
Software architecture and infrastructure
Implementation/Integration
Testing
Documentation
Training and support
Maintenance"

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

2nd Answer Example

"I'm my eyes, there is a preferred model of SDLC and then other development methodologies depending on what type of development environment you work in. Since I have worked in environments that have used the most popular ones, I understand how they work and their strengths and weaknesses. If I may, let me give you an example of some of the SDLC's in action:

Waterfall - This is the oldest of most of the popular ones out there. This approach is a phase-by-phase approach, where one phase gets done before the next one starts.
Agile - This methodology separates the project into cycles and delivers a working product in the shortest amount of time.
V-Shaped - This acts as an extension of Waterfall and tests at each stage of the development process.
Iterative Model - This model emphasizes repetition. A version is created then tested through a succession of revisions.
Spiral Model - This is by far the most flexible model of the group. It goes through the planning, design, build, and test phases and monitors gradual improvement at each phase of the process."

Written by Tom Dushaj on August 31st, 2021

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