Amazon debugging test is a set of online assignments conducted by Amazon, which is generally typical and requires a good amount of knowledge to pass through those questions. Amazon conducts this debugging test as a set of online assessments, or to be specific, there are three online assessments to be solved which involve debugging questions with the concepts of data structures. So, here, we’ll see some Amazon Debugging Questions.
Even if these questions require a good hand on coding and data structures, it is possible that they can be mastered with a little hard work and smart preparation. Questions ahead in this article will help you to crack Amazon Debugging Test and will provide you with a clear picture of how the questions are in there and how to sail through.
Structure of Amazon Debugging Test and What to Expect
Planning before any interview or test makes one confident enough to face it and nothing hits as an alien thing when faced during an interview. It is always better to know about what is going to come and it feels important here to have a rough idea about what is the flow of the Amazon Debugging Test and what all to expect. Amazon conducts this debugging test in three different online assessments (OAs) which primarily focuses on the coding skills of the applying candidates. The flow of the test is as follows:
- QA1 – Debugging (7 Questions in 20 mins)
The first set of online assessments or OA1 generally comes with seven questions on debugging which are meant to be done within 20 minutes. In this test, a snippet of code is given to the candidate to solve and the candidate is expected to fix the code before the time allotted to each question is expired. The coding languages to follow while solving these questions are C, C++, and Java.
- QA2 – Coding (2 Questions in 70 mins)
Online assessment 2 (QA2) tests the knowledge of the applicants in the field of Data Structures and has 2 questions that have to be completed in 70 minutes. In this assessment, the candidates are allowed to compile their codes however times they want to before actually submitting the solution. Also, unlike only 2 languages in OA1, here the candidates are provided with the following 8 languages and can use any one of them. Languages are C, C++, C#, Python, Java, JavaScript, Ruby, and Swift. The most important thing to note about this test is that in this test the efficiency and optimization of the solutions are much more important than just solving the test. The more efficiency of the solutions will in turn earn more points which in comparison with brute force solutions will provide an edge over other candidates.
- QA3 – Logical Reasoning and Work Simulation
Set three of online assessment of Amazon Debugging test and the final set consists of two sets in it.
- Part1 – Expects the candidates to select options for different day-to-day scenarios based on their reactions to them. Here, the candidates are shown an interactive video presenting a day as Software Development Engineer at Amazon. This whole process takes two hours at large.
- Part 2 – Consists of logical questions which are to be solved within the time duration of 35 minutes and will put the decision speed and logical skills of the applicants to the test. Here, it is expected to solve as many of them to get more points.
After all, these three sets are done with, still, there is a lot to attempt when it comes to the full interview by Amazon which includes Technical Phone Screens, Onsite Interview which will again have coding questions, and behavioral interview. In the end, Amazon conducts another interview which they refer to as ‘Bar Raiser’ which looks for the overall quality of the candidates and is not associated with the branch one is applying for.
Amazon Debugging Questions with Sample Answers
With the overview of the whole process and a bigger picture as to what to expect when the applicants are going to face the interview, now is the time to discuss some of the most asked questions with the sample answers to go for in these interviews. Some of them are:
- How to merge two sorted linked lists?
To merge two linked lists and that too in a sorted sense, first of all, we have to appoint a head and a tail on the targeted merged linked list. To choose the head of the linked list we have to compare and select the first node of both the linked lists. For the rest of the elements, select the smaller node and by linking it to the tail of the merged list while moving the present pointer one step forward, all the elements will be sorted. Now, start comparing the first node of both the linked list and the node with less value should be assigned as the head of the merged linked list. Then by moving the current pointer one step ahead, it will act as same as that of the last process and if this process of comparing and selecting the node with lesser value continues for the rest of the elements then in the end a merged linked list will be formed.
- How to perform level order traversal of the Binary Tree?
To perform this we have to opt for two queues out of which one will be current and the other would be next and nodes will be accessed based on the level number. By de-queue the nodes from the current queue and printing the nodes with sending them to the next queue, one by one all the elements of the current queue will be accessed, and then enqueuing the node’s children to the next queue we will move to the next level number. Then, swap the queues and start accessing and printing them and continue this process till in the next level no element is left. After the last swap, when there will be nothing to access then the loop will terminate and all the elements of the binary tree are traversed.
- How to reverse the words in a sentence?
It is one of those problems when given in an interview, the applicant judges it as difficult and due to the time constraint, they falter to break down the steps which leads them to not being able to solve a basic problem. For printing any string in a reverse manner there are two steps. First, reversing the string can be easily done by assigning a temporary variable and using it first to take the pointer value from the start of the string. With that being done, now the starting place is empty and thus the pointer value of the end of the node is assigned which makes the end empty. The value stored in the temporary variable is now assigned to the end and thus one by one string is reversed. Now when the string is reversed, all that is to be done is to print it.
Above are the basic questions that are being asked in debugging sessions and there is a lot to practice from each type, that is, Linked lists, tree, and string, and the more programs are practiced the more are the chances to make it through the interview. It is something that will eventually come with practice and when the preparation is well then the results would surely be better. All the Best!
