What Are Good Array Interview Questions To Practice?
If you have landed here, chances are you might be going to appear for an array interview. To make your preparation easier, we have listed the most asked array interview questions
The array is one of the most important topics for coding interviews. In programming, arrays are used to resolve many problem statements. Moreover, irrespective of the language you choose to pursue your career in, you will always come across the concept of an array.
In that case, it becomes important for you to brush up on the concept of arrays. However, going through all the concepts again is not a feasible approach to follow.
Therefore, we have come up with some top array interview questions asked in a coding interview.
So, let's not wait for time and get started! .
Understand The Concept Of Arrays
As arrays are one of the crucial and fundamental topics that you will come across in all coding interviews, it is important to understand the concept of an array. The array is a collection of all elements of the same data type.
For example, if there is an array of a data type character, it will only store character type elements. It will not store any element of another data type like integer or float.
Arrays promote code reusability as you will not have to assign different variables for each element. You can easily access any element with the help of an index.
Array Interview Questions
Now that you are aware of what an array is, here are all the questions.
How To Declare An Array?
To declare an array, the syntax is as follows:
DataType Name Of the Array [size]
Explain Advantages And Disadvantages Of Array?
Advantages of an array:
You can sort multiple elements of an array at a single time.
Any element of the array can be accessed with the help of an index.
Disadvantages of an array:
You need to declare the number of elements that you will store in the array in the future. Because of this, you will not be able to change the size of the array later in the program.
You can only store elements of one data type which means no other element can be stored in the array.
What Happens When You Do Not Initialize An Array
In any case, if you fail to initialize an array, it will pick up default values from the system depending upon the data type of your array.
Is It Possible To Assign An Array Without Assigning Its Size?
No, it is impossible to assign any array without assigning its size. You may encounter a compile-time error if you do not assign the size to an array.
What Do You Mean By ArrayStoreException?
ArrayStoreException is an error that one can face at runtime. This error occurs when you declare an array of another data type and try to insert elements of another data type.
For example: if you have declared an array of data type integers and you attempt to enter a character value in the array, ArrayStoreException will occur on the screen.
What Do You Mean By ArrayOutOfBounds Exception?
ArrayOutOfBounds exception is another kind of runtime issue that you can encounter. This exception may occur when you attempt to access an element from an invalid index. This includes both higher and negative values of the index.
For example, if you have declared an array of size 3, and you try to access an element at index A[4], the exception will occur.
What Do You Understand By Jagged Array?
Jagged arrays can be defined as multidimensional arrays which have distinct sizes. For instance, you can declare a 2D array where the row size is different from the column size. Such an array is known as a jarred array in Java.
Why Do You Use Sizeof Operator?
The sizeof operator is used to check the pointer's size and the type it is pointing to. However, the sizeof operator will not be able to tell you how many bytes in total are utilized by the array.
Distinguish Between Linked List And Arrays
Following are the differences between Linked List and Arrays:
Memory Allocation: In a linked list, memory allocation is done at the run time, but in arrays, the memory allocation is done at the compile time.
Size: Linked lists possess a node structure and because of this, the size of a linked list can be changed. But this is not the case with arrays. You can not alter the size of an array as the elements are present in an unscattered manner.
Execution Time: Simply, arrays have a much faster execution time than a linked list. The major reason behind the same is that to carry out any operation on any element of a linked list; all the previous elements should be traversed. This is why operating any element in a linked list takes time. However, in arrays, you can easily operate any element using its index.
Can An Array Have a Negative Number Size?
No, you can not pass a negative number as the size of an array. Doing so will only result in a Negative Array Size Exception when you run the code.
Differentiate Between Objects And An Array
The following is the difference between an array and an object:
An array is simply a collection of similar data represented by a single variable. Whereas an object can be defined as a property of a particular thing.
To modify elements in an object, dots and brackets can be used. However, if you wish to modify elements in an array, you will have to use zero-based indexing or built-in methods.
Conclusion
In the blog, we have covered all the common array interview questions that you will face in your coding interview. These questions will help you brush up on your concepts no matter if you are a fresher or an experienced engineer.
Moreover, if you are going for an interview in a tech-giant firm like Microsoft, make sure you practice Microsoft interview questions.
So, go through all these questions properly and ace your next coding interview with ease.
THANK YOU SO MUCH
Shane O'Mara shaneomara.com https://www.shaneomara.com/ received his undergraduate degree in psychology from the National University of Ireland, Galway, and his PhD in neuroscience from the University of Oxford. After completing his PhD, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg, Germany, before returning to Ireland to take up a position at Trinity College Dublin.
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