Google Coding Interview Questions

Review this list of 23 Google coding software engineer interview questions and answers verified by hiring managers and candidates.
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    Video answer for 'Edit distance'
    +16

    "from collections import deque def updateword(words, startword, end_word): if end_word not in words: return None # Early exit if end_word is not in the dictionary queue = deque([(start_word, 0)]) # (word, steps) visited = set([start_word]) # Keep track of visited words while queue: word, steps = queue.popleft() if word == end_word: return steps # Found the target word, return steps for i in range(len(word)): "

    叶 路. - "from collections import deque def updateword(words, startword, end_word): if end_word not in words: return None # Early exit if end_word is not in the dictionary queue = deque([(start_word, 0)]) # (word, steps) visited = set([start_word]) # Keep track of visited words while queue: word, steps = queue.popleft() if word == end_word: return steps # Found the target word, return steps for i in range(len(word)): "See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Coding
    +3 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    +28

    "Reversing a linked list is a very popular question. We have two approaches to reverse the linked list: Iterative approach and recursion approach. Iterative approach (JavaScript) function reverseLL(head){ if(head === null) return head; let prv = null; let next = null; let cur = head; while(cur){ next = cur.next; //backup cur.next = prv; prv = cur; cur = next; } head = prv; return head; } Recursion Approach (JS) function reverseLLByRecursion("

    Satyam S. - "Reversing a linked list is a very popular question. We have two approaches to reverse the linked list: Iterative approach and recursion approach. Iterative approach (JavaScript) function reverseLL(head){ if(head === null) return head; let prv = null; let next = null; let cur = head; while(cur){ next = cur.next; //backup cur.next = prv; prv = cur; cur = next; } head = prv; return head; } Recursion Approach (JS) function reverseLLByRecursion("See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Coding
    +4 more
  • "2 Approaches: 1) The more intuitive approach is doing a multi-source BFS from all cats and storing the distance of closest cats. Then do a dfs/bfs from rat to bread. Time Complexity: O(mn + 4^L) where L is path length, worst case L could be mn Space Complexity: O(m*n) 2) The first approach should be fine for interviews. But if they ask to optimize it further, you can use Binary Search. Problems like "Finding max of min distance" or "Finding min of max" could be usually solved by BS. "

    Karan K. - "2 Approaches: 1) The more intuitive approach is doing a multi-source BFS from all cats and storing the distance of closest cats. Then do a dfs/bfs from rat to bread. Time Complexity: O(mn + 4^L) where L is path length, worst case L could be mn Space Complexity: O(m*n) 2) The first approach should be fine for interviews. But if they ask to optimize it further, you can use Binary Search. Problems like "Finding max of min distance" or "Finding min of max" could be usually solved by BS. "See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Coding
    +1 more
  • +9

    "Would be better to adjust resolution in the video player directly."

    Anonymous Prawn - "Would be better to adjust resolution in the video player directly."See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Coding
    +4 more
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  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    Video answer for 'Explain how to find a target sum in an array.'
    +2

    "// C++ program to print the count of // subsets with sum equal to the given value X #include using namespace std; // Recursive function to return the count // of subsets with sum equal to the given value int subsetSum(int arr[], int n, int i, int sum, int count) { // The recursion is stopped at N-th level // where all the subsets of the given array // have been checked if (i == n) { // Incrementing the count if sum is // equal to 0 and returning the count if (sum == 0)"

    Ajay U. - "// C++ program to print the count of // subsets with sum equal to the given value X #include using namespace std; // Recursive function to return the count // of subsets with sum equal to the given value int subsetSum(int arr[], int n, int i, int sum, int count) { // The recursion is stopped at N-th level // where all the subsets of the given array // have been checked if (i == n) { // Incrementing the count if sum is // equal to 0 and returning the count if (sum == 0)"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Coding
    +1 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    +20

    "Idea for solution: Reverse the complete char array Reverse the words separated by space. i.e. Find the space characters and the reverse the subarray between two space characters. vector reverseSubarray(vector& arr, int s, int e) { while (s reverseWords(vector& arr ) { int n = arr.size(); reverse(arr, 0, n - 1"

    Rahul M. - "Idea for solution: Reverse the complete char array Reverse the words separated by space. i.e. Find the space characters and the reverse the subarray between two space characters. vector reverseSubarray(vector& arr, int s, int e) { while (s reverseWords(vector& arr ) { int n = arr.size(); reverse(arr, 0, n - 1"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Coding
    +4 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    Video answer for 'Merge Intervals'
    +34

    "const mergeIntervals = (intervals) => { const compare = (a, b) => { if(a[0] b[0]) return 1 else if(a[0] === b[0]) { return a[1] - b[1] } } let current = [] const result = [] const sorted = intervals.sort(compare) for(let i = 0; i = b[0]) current[1] = b[1] els"

    Kofi N. - "const mergeIntervals = (intervals) => { const compare = (a, b) => { if(a[0] b[0]) return 1 else if(a[0] === b[0]) { return a[1] - b[1] } } let current = [] const result = [] const sorted = intervals.sort(compare) for(let i = 0; i = b[0]) current[1] = b[1] els"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Coding
    +6 more
  • "def encode(root): if not root: return [] def dfs(node): if not node: return res.append(node.val) res.append(len(node,children)) for child_node in node.children: dfs(child_node) res = [] dfs(root) return res def decode(arr): if not arr: return None n = len(arr) i = 0 def dfs(val, children_count): if children_count == 0: return Node(val) cur_node = Node(val) cur_node.children = [] for j in range(children_count): nonlocal i i += 2 cur_node.children.append(dfs(arr[i], arr[i"

    Ying T. - "def encode(root): if not root: return [] def dfs(node): if not node: return res.append(node.val) res.append(len(node,children)) for child_node in node.children: dfs(child_node) res = [] dfs(root) return res def decode(arr): if not arr: return None n = len(arr) i = 0 def dfs(val, children_count): if children_count == 0: return Node(val) cur_node = Node(val) cur_node.children = [] for j in range(children_count): nonlocal i i += 2 cur_node.children.append(dfs(arr[i], arr[i"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Coding
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    +6

    " function climbStairs(n) { // 4 iterations of Dynamic Programming solutions: // Step 1: Recursive: // if (n <= 2) return n // return climbStairs(n-1) + climbStairs(n-2) // Step 2: Top-down Memoization // const memo = {0:0, 1:1, 2:2} // function f(x) { // if (x in memo) return memo[x] // memo[x] = f(x-1) + f(x-2) // return memo[x] // } // return f(n) // Step 3: Bottom-up Tabulation // const tab = [0,1,2] // f"

    Matthew K. - " function climbStairs(n) { // 4 iterations of Dynamic Programming solutions: // Step 1: Recursive: // if (n <= 2) return n // return climbStairs(n-1) + climbStairs(n-2) // Step 2: Top-down Memoization // const memo = {0:0, 1:1, 2:2} // function f(x) { // if (x in memo) return memo[x] // memo[x] = f(x-1) + f(x-2) // return memo[x] // } // return f(n) // Step 3: Bottom-up Tabulation // const tab = [0,1,2] // f"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Coding
    +3 more
  • +8

    "Without using a recursive approach, one can perform a post-order traversal by removing the parent nodes from the stack only if children were visited: def diameterOfTree(root): if root is None: return 0 diameter = 0 stack = deque([[root, False]]) # (node, visited) node_heights = {} while stack: curr_node, visited = stack[-1] if visited: heightleft = nodeheights.get(curr_node.left, 0) heightright = nodehe"

    Gabriele G. - "Without using a recursive approach, one can perform a post-order traversal by removing the parent nodes from the stack only if children were visited: def diameterOfTree(root): if root is None: return 0 diameter = 0 stack = deque([[root, False]]) # (node, visited) node_heights = {} while stack: curr_node, visited = stack[-1] if visited: heightleft = nodeheights.get(curr_node.left, 0) heightright = nodehe"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Coding
    +1 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    Video answer for 'Write functions to serialize and deserialize a list of strings.'
    +4

    "Maybe we can use this solution: 1, connect all the strings together, and add an integer value ahead each string. 2, use Huffmans algorithm to encode the step 1 result, to make the result size smaller. 3, return the root of Huffmans tree. This solution man be slower than the common serialize method, but it can save a lot of memory, I think, at lease doing serialize is mainly for tranfering data or storing data."

    Jordan Z. - "Maybe we can use this solution: 1, connect all the strings together, and add an integer value ahead each string. 2, use Huffmans algorithm to encode the step 1 result, to make the result size smaller. 3, return the root of Huffmans tree. This solution man be slower than the common serialize method, but it can save a lot of memory, I think, at lease doing serialize is mainly for tranfering data or storing data."See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Coding
    +1 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    +18

    "def friend_distance(friends, userA, userB): step = 0 total_neighs = set() llen = len(total_neighs) total_neighs.add(userB) while len(total_neighs)!=llen: s = set() step += 1 llen = len(total_neighs) for el in total_neighs: nes = neighbours(friends, userA, el) if userA in nes: return step for p in nes: s.add(p) for el in s: total_neighs.add(el) return -1 def neighbours(A,n1, n2): out = set() for i in range(len(A[n2])): if An2: out.add(i) return out"

    Batman X. - "def friend_distance(friends, userA, userB): step = 0 total_neighs = set() llen = len(total_neighs) total_neighs.add(userB) while len(total_neighs)!=llen: s = set() step += 1 llen = len(total_neighs) for el in total_neighs: nes = neighbours(friends, userA, el) if userA in nes: return step for p in nes: s.add(p) for el in s: total_neighs.add(el) return -1 def neighbours(A,n1, n2): out = set() for i in range(len(A[n2])): if An2: out.add(i) return out"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Coding
    +1 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    Video answer for 'Generate Parentheses'
    +5

    "function generateParentheses(n) { if (n < 1) { return []; } if (n === 1) { return ["()"]; } const combinations = new Set(); let previousCombinations = generateParentheses(n-1); for (let prev of previousCombinations) { for (let i=0; i < prev.length; i++) { combinations.add(prev.slice(0, i+1) + "()" + prev.slice(i+1)); } } return [...combinations]; } `"

    Tiago R. - "function generateParentheses(n) { if (n < 1) { return []; } if (n === 1) { return ["()"]; } const combinations = new Set(); let previousCombinations = generateParentheses(n-1); for (let prev of previousCombinations) { for (let i=0; i < prev.length; i++) { combinations.add(prev.slice(0, i+1) + "()" + prev.slice(i+1)); } } return [...combinations]; } `"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Coding
    +3 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 

    "def split_count(s): return 2**(len(s)-1) `"

    Steve M. - "def split_count(s): return 2**(len(s)-1) `"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Coding
    +1 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    +4

    "public static void sortBinaryArray(int[] array) { int len = array.length; int[] res = new int[len]; int r=len-1; for (int value : array) { if(value==1){ res[r]= 1; r--; } } System.out.println(Arrays.toString(res)); } `"

    Nitin P. - "public static void sortBinaryArray(int[] array) { int len = array.length; int[] res = new int[len]; int r=len-1; for (int value : array) { if(value==1){ res[r]= 1; r--; } } System.out.println(Arrays.toString(res)); } `"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Coding
    +1 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    +3

    "function addChildren(root, val, inorder) { const rootInOrderIndex = inorder.indexOf(root.value); const childrenInOrderIndex = inorder.indexOf(val); if (childrenInOrderIndex < rootInOrderIndex) { if (!root.left) { root.left = new TreeNode(val); } else { addChildren(root.left, val, inorder); } } else { if (!root.right) { root.right = new TreeNode(val); } else { addChildren(root.right,"

    Tiago R. - "function addChildren(root, val, inorder) { const rootInOrderIndex = inorder.indexOf(root.value); const childrenInOrderIndex = inorder.indexOf(val); if (childrenInOrderIndex < rootInOrderIndex) { if (!root.left) { root.left = new TreeNode(val); } else { addChildren(root.left, val, inorder); } } else { if (!root.right) { root.right = new TreeNode(val); } else { addChildren(root.right,"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Coding
    +2 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    Video answer for 'Merge k sorted linked lists.'
    +6

    "A much better solution than the one in the article, below: It looks like the ones writing articles here in Javascript do not understand the time/space complexity of javascript methods. shift, splice, sort, etc... In the solution article you have a shift and a sort being done inside a while, that is, the multiplication of Ns. My solution, below, iterates through the list once and then sorts it, separately. It´s O(N+Log(N)) class ListNode { constructor(val = 0, next = null) { th"

    Guilherme F. - "A much better solution than the one in the article, below: It looks like the ones writing articles here in Javascript do not understand the time/space complexity of javascript methods. shift, splice, sort, etc... In the solution article you have a shift and a sort being done inside a while, that is, the multiplication of Ns. My solution, below, iterates through the list once and then sorts it, separately. It´s O(N+Log(N)) class ListNode { constructor(val = 0, next = null) { th"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Coding
    +4 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    +7

    "function areSentencesSimilar(sentence1, sentence2, similarPairs) { if (sentence1.length !== sentence2.length) return false; for (let i=0; i (w1 === word1 && !visited.has(w2)) || (w2 === word1 && !visited.has(w1))); if (!edge) { "

    Tiago R. - "function areSentencesSimilar(sentence1, sentence2, similarPairs) { if (sentence1.length !== sentence2.length) return false; for (let i=0; i (w1 === word1 && !visited.has(w2)) || (w2 === word1 && !visited.has(w1))); if (!edge) { "See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Coding
    +2 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 

    Permutations

    IDE
    Medium

    "function permute(nums) { if (nums.length <= 1) { return [nums]; } const prevPermutations = permute(nums.slice(0, nums.length-1)); const currentNum = nums[nums.length-1]; const permutations = new Set(); for (let prev of prevPermutations) { for (let i=0; i < prev.length; i++) { permutations.add([...prev.slice(0, i), currentNum, ...prev.slice(i)]); } permutations.add([...prev, currentNum]); } return [...permutations]"

    Tiago R. - "function permute(nums) { if (nums.length <= 1) { return [nums]; } const prevPermutations = permute(nums.slice(0, nums.length-1)); const currentNum = nums[nums.length-1]; const permutations = new Set(); for (let prev of prevPermutations) { for (let i=0; i < prev.length; i++) { permutations.add([...prev.slice(0, i), currentNum, ...prev.slice(i)]); } permutations.add([...prev, currentNum]); } return [...permutations]"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Coding
    +3 more
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