Typical java interview questions sorted by experience


Junior
* Name some of the characteristics of OO programming languages
* What are the access modifiers you know? What does each one do?
* What is the difference between overriding and overloading a method in Java?
* What’s the difference between an Interface and an abstract class?
* Can an Interface extend another Interface?
* What does the static word mean in Java?
* Can a static method be overridden in Java?
* What is Polymorphism? What about Inheritance?
* Can a constructor be inherited?
* Do objects get passed by reference or value in Java? Elaborate on that.
* What’s the difference between using == and .equals on a string?
* What is the hashCode() and equals() used for?
* What does the interface Serializable do? What about Parcelable in Android?
* Why are Array and ArrayList different? When would you use each?
* What’s the difference between an Integer and int?
* What is a ThreadPool? Is it better than using several “simple” threads?
* What the difference between local, instance and class variables?

Mid
* What is reflection?
* What is dependency injection? Can you name a few libraries? (Have you used any?)
* What are strong, soft and weak references in Java?
* What does the keyword synchronized mean?
* Can you have “memory leaks” on Java?
* Do you need to set references to null on Java/Android?
* What does it means to say that a String is immutable?
* What are transient and volatile modifiers?
* What is the finalize() method?
* How does the try{} finally{} works?
* What is the difference between instantiation and initialisation of an object?
* When is a static block run?
* Why are Generics are used in Java?
* Can you mention the design patterns you know? Which of those do you normally use?
* Can you mention some types of testing you know?

Senior
* How does Integer.parseInt() works?
* Do you know what is the “double check locking” problem?
* Do you know the difference between StringBuffer and StringBuilder?
* How is a StringBuilder implemented to avoid the immutable string allocation problem?
* What does Class.forName method do?
* What is Autoboxing and Unboxing?
* What’s the difference between an Enumeration and an Iterator?
* What is the difference between fail-fast and fail safe in Java?
* What is PermGen in Java?
* What is a Java priority queue?
* *s performance influenced by using the same number in different types: Int, Double and Float?
* What is the Java Heap?
* What is daemon thread?
* Can a dead thread be restarted?

Source: medium.