Software Development Manager Interview Questions
"Software Development Managers manage teams of engineers and work closely with product managers in order to oversee the development of a software product from start to completion. Employers are looking for strong leaders with solid communication skills and in depth knowledge of the software development process. In an interview, be ready to field technical questions as well as discuss how you would prioritize projects. A bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field and several years experience in software development is expected."
What would you do if senior management demanded delivery of software in an impossible deadline?
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The feasibility which could lead to happen this type of situations is due to critical business needs. It means senior management would be actively involved and here agile framework will come into play. Delivering the workable product and then further developing the solution would be the best possible shot for win win situation. Less
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It is possible to keep scope, resources & timeline (dates) unchanged, but compromise on quality. This will impact team retention, especially the stronger engineers on the team, over the longer run. The leadership team must understand the consequences. Less
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Give them the choice of reduced scope, more resources, or changed dates. They can only pick 2. Less
What would you say are the minimal requirements needed to successfully manage a software development project?
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What will make the user happier using this than another product.
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clear requirements, functional specs, delivery estimates, daily scrums
What are some of the things you might consider when designing a database?
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(Books have been written about this). "Normalization vs. denormalization, data model accurately reflects problem domain, adaptability / maintainability, performance, indexing, partitioning. Less
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The key aspects to consider are normalization vs. denormalization, partitioning, data model accurately reflects problem domain, adaptability and maintainability, performance, and indexing Less
Given two numbers n and m, divide n by m without using the division operator. Return both the integer answer as well as the remainder.
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I first assumed that both numbers were positive and then used repeated subtraction to come up with the answer. Upon further discussion I felt that this took too long and tried to come up with some kind of faster method to accomplish this but I could not design it in the time required. Thinking about it there are some other choices: 1) Treat the numbers as binary and then use shifting and subtraction to divide. I can't really solve this easily. 2) Calculate ..., 16m, 8m, 4m, 2m, 1m, etc. and the subtract each of those from n if possible. If you can subtract it shift the answer and add a 1. Finally, compare the signs of n and m to set the signs of the answer. Less
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10 ^ (log10 m - log10 n)
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The two answers don't give you the remainder; you will still have to write code to get that Less
Write a function that takes an input string, consisting of several words separated by spaces, and print out each word reversed, keeping the same order within the string.
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Create a stack. Traverse the string and push the characters onto the stack until a space is encountered, then print all the characters off the stack until it's empty. When the end of the list is reached, empty and print the stack. Less
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I know that a Java answer isn't always what MS likes to hear. However, the technique is essentially the same if it's C#, C++, or even C. Extracting the tokens from the string and reversing them in the same order as the original string is the trick. ---------------------------------------------- import java.util.StringTokenizer; public class MsTest { public static void main(String[] args) { // TODO Auto-generated method stub String aString = "ABC 123 Doe Ray Me Fala=la 890"; System.out.println( "Original String: " + aString ); StringReverseElements( aString ); } private static void StringReverseElements(String Mess ) { StringTokenizer st = new StringTokenizer (Mess, " "); String tmpString; System.out.print( "Reversed String: " ); while (st.hasMoreTokens ()) { tmpString = (st.nextToken()); PrintReverse( tmpString.toCharArray(), tmpString.length()); } } private static void PrintReverse( char[] AnArray, int iLen ) { for ( int kk = 0; kk < iLen; kk++ ) System.out.print( AnArray [ iLen - kk -1] ); System.out.print( ' ' ); } } Less
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Clay - That would absolutely work, but during my interview I was told I couldn't use library functions, including Tokenizer. Less
What do I know about Distributed systems?
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A distributed system is where components located on a network communicste by passing messages passing messages. The components interact with each other in order to achieve a common goal. Less
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while some answer is fine, this is just an opener to a wider question the interviewer is trying to drive at. A good answer would briefly describe some theory of distributed systems and better bring out some experiences of building a distributed system. Preferably from personal experience OR definitely from something you have studied deeply. Less
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I didn't have experience with such systems. So, told the person.
Given a large unsorted text file containing thousands of words count the number of times each word appears.
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How about building a prefix tree and keep the frequency at the leaf of the tree?
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Of course having a hashmap or an associative array would be a naive way. They are looking for optimization. Probably either using a hashmap but in a multithreaded way or having a more optimized algorithm that involves uncommon data structures Less
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I answered that I would build a hash map where the key was each word encountered and the "value" was the number of times that word was encountered. O(n) complexity. Less
What methods would you use to retain employees within the company?
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Methods to retain employees - challenge, explain impact, bring clarity, monetary motivation, morale, help them identify strengths and let them play to it, promotions, tools at work, lateral move, right fit, work/life balance, mentor-mentee, etc. Got keep trying for A+ people and your A people as well. Less
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Check-out Maslov's theorem. Map each candidate to the stage they are in as per Maslov. That should give you an idea what motivates that individual. Base your action as per the individual. Less
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Have regular health index surveys. Give more responsibility and ownership. Have genuine morale events. Recognize performance fairly. Less
A web service is used by many teams. How do you release a new version ? Sending emails or reminders to a mailing list of current users does not guarantee a full response, what do you do?
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In this situation, calling a mandatory meeting having all representative for all the team make a difference. Apart from one official mail it is wise to look and understand the impact of new release for existing area if they have not been tested properly. Further past regression and automated results will help you to minimize the risk. Less
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You can override the methods which required change and deprecate old method. Also a java doc comments would help wherein it would mention the next version, when this old method wont be availble thereon. Less
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1) you can add version number in the url lie ../api/v2/account 2) use header, so the url does not change and it is always point to latest 3) use content negotiation technique Less