Tender Query Sample: Fill & Download for Free

This list is not exhaustive--I'll keep updating this as I remember (or am told about) more.Keep in mind that I'm still a student, so this may only be relevant for new grad interviews (having never been an "experienced" hire candidate, I can't speak to the content of those interviews).For each type, I'll list a few samplesSimple Factual Questions [1]What port does HTTP use?What is the time complexity of merge sort?What data structure underlies a Python list?Data Structure/Algorithms QuestionsGiven two nodes in an arbitrary tree, write a function to find the most-specific-common-ancestorGiven a list of n integers, write a function to determine if any two sum to k [2]Given k guards in a museum with n rooms that are connected in a certain way (was drawn on a whiteboard when I was asked this) write a function to determine which of the k guards is closest to each of the n roomsTedious Programming QuestionsGiven an integer, write a function to print it out in words (e.g. given 342, print "three-hundred forty-two"Given an amount charged and cash tendered, write a function to make change using the fewest number of bills/coins possibleLanguage-Specific QuestionsWhat is the difference between an Interface and an Abstract Class in Java?If in a Python class, you inherit from multiple parent classes that both have an instance method of the same name, which implementation is picked by default for the child class?Implement a Data Structure QuestionsImplement a "min-stack" (a data structure that behaves just like a stack in terms of push and pop but also supports a function min that returns (but does not pop) the minimum number currently on the stack)Implement an LRU cacheUsing only arrays and primitive types, implement an auto-resizing arrayMath-y QuestionsHow many trailing zeros does the number 52! have?Given a streaming input of integers and only constant storage, for any n, how can you randomly select one of the n integers you have seen so far such that each has probability 1/n of being selected?Explain a CS Concept QuestionsExplain how heapsort worksHow can you sort in sub-n log n time?What is a mutex?What's the difference between a thread and a process?Explain a Real-World SystemHow does DNS work? [3]When you type "google.com" into your address bar and press enter, what happens? [4]How does virtual memory work?Security QuestionsDescribe the browser security modelHow does SSL work?What is a SQL injection attack?What is XSS?System Design Questions [5]How would you design an elevator system?How would you design a system for running A/B tests on some fraction of the user base?"Real World" QuestionsHow do you prevent click-jacking?How would you implement a "People You May Know" feature in our product?Database QuestionsGiven some application and desired functionality, how would you lay out the schema?Given this schema, write a query to retrieve xHow could you make this query run faster?Unix Tools QuestionsWrite a command to find all occurrences of a string for all files in a directoryGiven standard Apache access logs, write a command to find the number of unique IPs that hit your web server in the last weekProgramming Experience QuestionsWhat is your favorite language and why?What are your favorite frameworks?What are some cross-browser inconsistencies?What is your favorite third-party API?What's your favorite version control system?--[1] Yelp (company) asked me a bunch of these during my on-campus interview after the Career Fair last fall.[2] The more interesting variant is determine if any x sum to k.[3] Alternatively, if you don't know, they might walk you through it by framing the problem it solves in a particular way and asking you for a solution.[4] I have heard that one particular interviewer (who is actually an active Quora user—but I won't give him away by @ mentioning) has a twist on this where he gives you the first step, "a hardware interrupt is generated, take it from there."[5] These may or may not involve actually coding parts of your design.

I used to spend summers living with my grandmother in Charlottesville, VA. You can pick up the gist of the neighborhood in the background behind Grandmother Nonnie’s photo here.Those were the days of the free range children, an era where we were free to roam as we pleased, explore the world and test ideas. We invented the games, made up the rules and occasionally got into some relatively harmless mischief.Nine year old Patsy was the self appointed tribal leader of our outdoor child community. She was by no means the love of my life, but a good fit for the song, “Unforgettable … that’s what you are.”Loyalty and obedience to her decree was strictly enforced. Below and taken today, is a selfie of the scar on my forehead, administered 60 years ago by Patsy as a warning for having questioned her authority. Unforgettable, is what she was.One of Patsy’s clever neighborhood pranks was the game of, “Do you have any?”The object of the game was to walk, door to door in groups of three and ask a silly, template question. “Do you have any elephants?” The predictable response from the adult at the door would of course be, “What?” Elephants! What do you mean? Do I have any elephants?”With the annoyance completed, we’d turn and run like crazy cats, giggling our way back out into the street to choose the next item for the template question. “Do you have any kangaroos? Do you have any Martians? Do you have any whales?” Etc.As you can see, Miss Patsy was an early innovator in what would become the Quora Partner Program. She devised and implemented template questions, specifically for the purpose of annoying the adult community for the amusement of nine year old kids.Just outside the frame of Grandmother Nonnie’s photograph was Mr. Bendall’s house, which stood in stark contrast to the surrounding neighborhood. The Bendall house was surrounded by a tall, black wrought iron fence that was chronically embedded in a dense overgrowth of shrubbery and vine. The house, barely visible behind the overgrowth, looked ominous and forbidding.None of the kids had ever seen Mr. Bendall, but it was rumored that he was an Evil Wizard who ate children.But snooping and curiosity are the ways of children. It was decided that we should query Mr. Bendall in a game of, “Do you have any.”With utmost caution and fear, we moved toward the entrance. Easing open the brush entwined iron gate, we peeked in. Nothing happened. Stepping carefully onto what was left of a sidewalk being consumed by roots and weeds - nothing happened.Silently, stealthily, we inched our way to the front door of the house.Taking pause and a deep breath … we knocked.Following the clank of a strong metal latch, the door began to open. There was certainty in the presence of something sinister, menacing.The door opened further, revealing the faint silhouette of an ancient human figure.Our time of reckoning had come. Who would ask the question? Finally, it was Patsy. Breaching her fear and bracing for catastrophe, she spoke clearly.“Mr. Bendall, DO YOU HAVE ANY ROCKS?”“Why yes. I do. Won’t you please come in?”Oh S**T! Oh S**T! My heart pounded in my throat. Panic!Surely we would be in Mr. Bendall’s oven before nightfall! Our tender young bodies and soft, sweet skin! And how broken hearted my loving Grandmother Nonnie would be. What have we done, oh what have we done?Stepping inside, speechlessly paralyzed by fear …Rocks.Hundreds of rocks. Maybe thousands of rocks. All neatly lined up on display shelves. Colored rocks, plain rocks, translucent rocks, beautiful rocks, ugly rocks and peculiar rocks.Mr. Bendall sat us down in his display room and passed around a white rock.“Talc. Rub it on your hands.”The dust felt smooth and creamy.“This is what they make baby powder out of.”“This mottled looking green one? Copper ore. This is used to make pennies and wire.”Mr. Bendall let us handle and touch each rock as he explained quartz, gold ore, pyrite, granite, flint, meteorite and others. He told stories of his travels to far parts of the world where he found rare and exotic gem samples which were on display in glass cases. He warned us that some were dangerous and could make you sick. We were not to touch those.The rumored Evil Wizard was as kindly a gentleman as one would ever find.The rumored Evil Wizard was a retired geology professor at The University of Virginia.At the end of our unexpected symposium on rocks and minerals, Mr. Bendall gave us each a small sample bag containing 8 - 10 rocks with labels and a small pamphlet about their origins and uses in industry.That was the last time we ever played “Do you have any?” and I don’t know what became of Miss Patsy. She left me with a scar, as many people do. Serendipity and kindness found a way to prevail.If Professor Bendall or someone like him were alive today, perhaps there might be hope for the current version of the Quora Partner Program, a perfect fit for a kid’s playtime prank.QPP? Do you have any rocks?We’re all grown up now, so please make this answer a good one.

#1: Tiger Woods is marooned, unconscious, on an island after a fierce storm sinks his yacht.When he wakes up, there is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen kneeling at his side. She asks if he is OK.“Terrible headache,” he says.“I’ll be right back,” she replies, and disappears into the foliage. In a moment she reappears with a quinine and tonic, and two ibuprofen tablets. Tiger tosses down the pills and slowly drinks the tonic.“That’s great!” he exclaims. “What else do you have hidden back in the bushes?“A lot of things,” she coos. “What would you like?”“A nice martini and a steak dinner,” he replies, joking.“Wait here,” she says, and once again vaporizes into the lush vegetation.In a few minutes, she reappears, holding a pristine, sparkling martini in one hand, and carrying a platter with a sizzling steak, mushrooms and potato in the other. In the little pouch dangling from her thong there is a set of silverware, and over her shoulder a folded beach blanket. She prepares an impromptu picnic with all these things, and Tiger digs in.As Tiger’s hunger is sated, he quips, “This is amazing. What ELSE do you have?”“Well,” she whispers huskily, “Maybe some dessert. And then maybe you would like to play around for a while after that.” She smiles and draws her perfectly manicured nails along the inside of his right thigh.“Holy cow!” cries Tiger. “You’ve got a golf course here?!”#2: Arriving at the pearly gates after a fatal auto accident, 3 friends stand before St. Peter who explains that a test question must be correctly answered to gain admission.Peter turn to the first man: “Who built the ark?” he asked.The man, visibly relieved, says “That one’s easy! Noah!”And with that, beautiful organ music rang through the air, the sun shone brightly, and blue birds and angels flitted to and fro, as the gates swung open majestically and the man walked through! Then the music stopped, the angels and birdies went into retreat, and the sky became cloudy as the gates closed with the metallic thump of a vault door.Peter turned to the next man. “Who was the first man?” he asked.And the man, similarly relieved, responded, “That’s easy! Adam.”And with that, beautiful organ music rang through the air, the sun shone brightly, and blue birds and angels flitted to and fro, as the gates swung open majestically and the man walked through! Then the music stopped, the angels and birdies went into retreat, and the sky became cloudy as the gates closed with the metallic thump of a vault door.Now Peter turned to the third man, who was confident and relaxed. “What was the first thing Eve said to Adam?” Peter queried, an eyebrow raised.The man was stunned. “Wellllll?” said Peter.The man stammered, “That one’s hard…”And with that, beautiful organ music rang through the air…#3. My friend Phil was a professional taster for the Seagram’s Corporation in New York City. His job it was to taste the various whiskeys they made to be sure they met the highest standards.But owing to the fact that he had to spit out each sample, by the end of the day he was really quite ready for an actual quiet drink he could slowly savor before the commute back home.Because his shift was over at 4 pm, before rush, he took his pleasure in a small, smoky basement bar not far from his office. He knew the bar tender there because of his daily presence over many years, and the two had become chums. And it was blissfully quiet in the hour before the first regulars came streaming in from their offices.But on this particular day, the regular bar tender was out sick, and the hotel workers union had sent in a replacement.Phil ordered his usual - a 21 year old Glenfiddich Single malt Soctch, neat.The bartender grabbed a shot glass, reached under the bar, made the appropriate pouring motions, and set the gleaming amber shot before my friend, who slowly took a sip.And then spit it out in a blooming mist which was suspended in the air.“Holy Hell, man! That’s not the Glenfiddich I wanted! Goddamn!” And then he paused to run the tip of his tongue over his lips, and quietly added: “That is actually 8 year old Cutty, isn’t it?”The bartender feigned surprise, but said, “I’m so sorry sir, I must have grabbed the wrong bottle -the light is out under the bar, here. Let me pour you the Glenfiddich.” The motions of his upper arms indicated he was reaching elsewhere under the bar, and directly he presented a fresh shot glass filled with the golden nectar.Phil took a very tentative sip but stopped short. He grabbed a cocktail napkin and spit into it. “No, no, no and NO! That was not the 21 year old Glenfiddich, goddamn it! That was -let me think; yes, 12 year old Johnny Walker Black! Where the hell is the Glenfiddich?!Then the bartender confessed. “Sir, the owner told me to pour any old rail scotch no matter what people ordered - the customer will never tell the difference. I pour out of view and just present the glass. No one knows the difference. But here, you, obviously, know your booze. So now I’m putting the actual Glenfiddich right here on the bar, and giving you a fresh glass. You pour. On the house, with my apologies.”My friend brightened, grabbed the preferred brand, and poured a long shot. “Ahhhhh,” he said on first sip, as he leaned back to savor Scotland’s finest. “Thank you.”Meanwhile, a very tipsy old gentleman near the end of the bar piped up. “Mizder.” he croaked, “Thadz the most ‘mazin thing I ever saw (hic!). But can ya tell me what I’m drinkin’?” He extended a half full glass toward my friend.Phil, irritated by this, replied: “Yes, I can tell you what you are drinking and then, please, let me alone to drink in peace, if you don’t mind.”“Zokay,” said the drunk.Phil swallowed the remainder of the old guy’s drink, then turned a pale green, clutched his stomach, and vomited a 6 foot stream across the room, where it splattered on the glass canopy of the juke box. Most unpleasant.“Holy Hell!” gagged Phil. “What the hell is that? It tastes like PISS.”To which the little old drunk winked and slyly replied: Yeahhh… but can you tell me how old I am?#4 (A TRUE story): My Great Aunt Madeline, a few years short of 100, was admitted to a classy facility on the southern boundary of Baltimore’s ritzy Roland Park, which facility was then known as “Keswick,” but formerly as the Keswick Home for the Incurables, which moniker was still spelled out on the iron archway over the main entrance.There, she one day was wheeled out to the courtyard for a bit of sun. And in a trice, a man 20 years her junior (which put him in his 80’s) trundled up in front of her. The man had recognized Aunt Madeline, because she had been his patient, when he was a practicing doctor. His practice was comprised almost entirely of Baltimore’s finest grand dames, who regarded him as somewhat of a miracle worker, although none would have invited him to a game of bridge.Be that so, the good doctor recognized Madeline instantly, and so sought her company.And thus, in a friendly inquiry, the good doctor said, “Madeline! How good to see you! Do you know who I am?”To which my aunt replied, “Young man, if you don’t know who you are, I can’t help you, and I think your approach is quite fresh!”Good old “Aunt Mad.” You had to love her.(I’ll see myself out, now.)