Questions that have appeared at Google for a Software Engineer (Technical) interview.

1. Data Structures and Algorithms

Question: Can you explain the difference between a stack and a queue?

Question: Describe a situation where you would use a hash map instead of an array or linked list?

Question: How would you detect a loop in a linked list?

2. Operating Systems

Question: Can you explain what a deadlock is, and how you might prevent it?

Question: What is the difference between process and thread?

Question: What is the role of a scheduler in an Operating System?

3. Databases

Question: What is the difference between a relational database and a NoSQL database?

Question: Can you explain what ACID properties are in the context of databases?

Question: What is the difference between normalization and denormalization in a database context?

4. Software Architecture

Question: What is the difference between monolithic and microservices architectures?

Question: Can you explain what REST is and how it relates to APIs?

Question: What are the main advantages and disadvantages of adopting a Serverless architecture?

5. Networking

Question: Can you explain what happens when you type a URL into your browser and press Enter?

Question: What is the difference between TCP and UDP?

Question: Can you explain how the OSI model is structured and why it is significant?

6. System Design

Question: How would you design a system that needs to serve millions of users simultaneously?

Question: Can you explain the concept of sharding as it relates to databases?

Question: How would you design a web crawler that respects the rules specified in robots.txt?

7. Security

Question: What is the difference between encryption and hashing?

Question: Can you explain what XSS is and how to prevent it?

Question: What are the main principles of secure software design?

8. Performance

Question: How would you approach diagnosing and fixing a performance bottleneck in a software system?

Question: Can you explain what a cache is and how it can improve system performance?

Question: What are some ways to improve the performance of a database query?

9. Distributed Systems

Question: What is the CAP theorem and why is it important in distributed systems?

Question: Can you explain the concept of eventual consistency?

Question: How would you handle a network partition in a distributed system?

10. Scalability

Question: What is horizontal scaling and how is it different from vertical scaling?

Question: How would you handle a sudden spike in traffic to your web application?

Question: Can you explain the concept of load balancing and why it is important for scalable systems?