TOP DSA INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What is an array?

Answer:
An array is a collection of elements, all of the same type, stored in contiguous memory
locations. Arrays provide random access to elements using an index. Arrays are static in size,
meaning their size is fixed at the time of declaration.

arr = [1, 2, 3, 4] # Example of an array in Python

2. What is a linked list?

Answer:
A linked list is a linear data structure where each element (node) contains a data part and a
reference (or pointer) to the next node in the sequence. Linked lists allow for efficient
insertion and deletion but require linear traversal to access elements.

class Node:
def __init__(self, data):
self.data = data
self.next = None

3. What is the difference between an array and a linked list?

Answer:

 Array: Provides random access (constant time) to elements using an index but
requires contiguous memory. Insertions and deletions are expensive (O(n)) for large
arrays.
 Linked List: Elements are not stored in contiguous memory, and you cannot directly
access elements by index. Insertion and deletion at the beginning or middle are
efficient (O(1) for inserting at the head), but access time is O(n).

4. What are the types of linked lists?

Answer:

 Singly Linked List: Each node points to the next node.

 Doubly Linked List: Each node points to both the next and previous nodes.
 Circular Linked List: The last node points back to the first node, forming a loop.

5. What is a stack?
Answer:
A stack is a linear data structure that follows the Last In First Out (LIFO) principle. The
last element added to the stack is the first to be removed. Common operations are push()
(add to the top), pop() (remove from the top), and peek() (view the top element).

stack = []
stack.append(1) # Push
stack.pop() # Pop

6. What is a queue?

Answer:
A queue is a linear data structure that follows the First In First Out (FIFO) principle.
Elements are added at the rear and removed from the front. Common operations are
enqueue() (add to the rear) and dequeue() (remove from the front).

from collections import deque

queue = deque()
queue.append(1) # Enqueue
queue.popleft() # Dequeue

7. What is a priority queue?

Answer:
A priority queue is a special type of queue where each element has a priority. Elements are
dequeued based on their priority (higher priority elements are dequeued first), rather than
their order in the queue.

8. What is a circular queue?

Answer:
A circular queue is a queue where the last position is connected to the first, forming a circular
structure. It solves the issue of unused space in a regular queue when the rear reaches the end
of the array.

9. What is a tree data structure?

Answer:
A tree is a hierarchical data structure consisting of nodes. Each node contains a value and
references to its child nodes. The topmost node is called the root, and each node can have
zero or more child nodes. Common types include binary trees, binary search trees, and
AVL trees.
10. What is a binary tree?

Answer:
A binary tree is a tree data structure in which each node has at most two children, referred to
as the left and right children.

11. What is a binary search tree (BST)?

Answer:
A binary search tree (BST) is a binary tree where the left child contains nodes with values
smaller than the parent, and the right child contains nodes with values greater than the parent.
BSTs allow for efficient searching, insertion, and deletion.

12. What is a balanced binary tree?

Answer:
A balanced binary tree is a binary tree in which the height difference between the left and
right subtrees of any node is no more than one. Examples include AVL trees and Red-Black
trees.

13. What is an AVL tree?

Answer:
An AVL tree is a self-balancing binary search tree where the height difference between the
left and right subtrees of any node is at most one. AVL trees perform rotations to maintain
balance during insertion and deletion.

14. What is a heap?

Answer:
A heap is a complete binary tree that satisfies the heap property:

 Max Heap: The parent node is greater than or equal to its children.
 Min Heap: The parent node is less than or equal to its children. Heaps are often used
to implement priority queues.

15. What is a graph?

Answer:
A graph is a collection of nodes (called vertices) and edges that connect pairs of vertices.
Graphs can be:

 Directed: The edges have a direction (from one vertex to another).

 Undirected: The edges have no direction. Graphs can also be weighted, where edges
carry weights.

16. What is the difference between a tree and a graph?

Answer:

 Tree: A hierarchical structure with a single root, where every node has one parent
(except the root). There are no cycles in a tree.
 Graph: A general structure with no root, where nodes can have multiple parents.
Graphs can contain cycles.

17. What is Depth-First Search (DFS)?

Answer:
Depth-First Search (DFS) is a graph traversal algorithm that starts at a given node and
explores as far as possible along each branch before backtracking. DFS can be implemented
using a stack or recursion.

18. What is Breadth-First Search (BFS)?

Answer:
Breadth-First Search (BFS) is a graph traversal algorithm that starts at a given node and
explores all its neighboring nodes before moving on to the next level of neighbors. BFS is
typically implemented using a queue.

19. What is a spanning tree?

Answer:
A spanning tree of a graph is a subgraph that includes all the vertices of the graph and is a
tree (i.e., contains no cycles). A graph can have multiple spanning trees.

20. What is Kruskal's algorithm?

Answer:
Kruskal's algorithm is a greedy algorithm used to find the minimum spanning tree of a
connected, undirected graph. It works by sorting the edges by weight and adding them to the
tree in increasing order, ensuring no cycles are formed.

21. What is Prim's algorithm?

Answer:
Prim's algorithm is another greedy algorithm used to find the minimum spanning tree of a
connected, undirected graph. It starts from an arbitrary node and grows the spanning tree by
adding the smallest edge that connects a vertex in the tree to a vertex outside the tree.

22. What is Dijkstra's algorithm?

Answer:
Dijkstra's algorithm is a greedy algorithm used to find the shortest path between a source
vertex and all other vertices in a graph. It works by repeatedly selecting the vertex with the
smallest known distance and updating the distances of its neighbors.

23. What is the time complexity of DFS and BFS?

Answer:
The time complexity of both DFS and BFS is O(V + E), where V is the number of vertices
and E is the number of edges.

24. What is a hash table?

Answer:
A hash table is a data structure that maps keys to values using a hash function. The hash
function computes an index in an array where the value corresponding to a key is stored.
Hash tables allow for average-case O(1) time complexity for search, insertion, and deletion.

25. What is a hash collision?

Answer:
A hash collision occurs when two different keys are mapped to the same index in a hash
table. Collisions are handled using techniques such as chaining (storing multiple elements at
the same index in a linked list) or open addressing (finding another available spot in the
array).
26. What is a trie?

Answer:
A trie (or prefix tree) is a tree-like data structure used for storing strings. Each node
represents a single character of a string, and the path from the root to a node forms a prefix.
Tries are useful for solving problems like autocomplete and spell checking.

27. What is a segment tree?

Answer:
A segment tree is a binary tree used to store interval or range information. It allows for
efficient queries and updates on intervals, such as finding the sum or minimum of elements in
a range. The time complexity for both updates and queries is O(log n).

28. What is a binary heap?

Answer:
A binary heap is a complete binary tree that satisfies the heap property. In a min heap, the
parent node is smaller than its children, while in a max heap, the parent is larger. Binary
heaps are commonly used to implement priority queues.

29. What is a backtracking algorithm?

Answer:
Backtracking is a recursive algorithm used to solve problems by trying to build a solution
incrementally, backtracking when a partial solution is found to be invalid. It is often used for
constraint satisfaction problems like Sudoku or the N-Queens problem.

30. What is dynamic programming?

Answer:
Dynamic programming is an optimization technique used to solve problems by breaking them
down into overlapping subproblems. It stores the results of subproblems in a table to avoid
redundant computations, resulting in more efficient algorithms.

31. What is the difference between dynamic programming and greedy

algorithms?
Answer:

 Dynamic Programming: Solves problems by breaking them into subproblems and

solving each subproblem once. It considers all possible solutions and optimizes over
the entire problem space.
 Greedy Algorithm: Makes the best choice at each step, hoping that these local
optimizations will lead to a global optimum. It doesn't consider all possible solutions.

32. What is memoization in dynamic programming?

Answer:
Memoization is a technique in dynamic programming where the results of expensive
function calls are stored and reused to avoid redundant calculations. It stores results in a table
(or cache) to speed up future computations.

33. What is the difference between top-down and bottom-up dynamic

programming?

Answer:

 Top-down: Also known as memoization, it solves the problem recursively and stores
the results of subproblems to avoid recomputation.
 Bottom-up: Also known as tabulation, it solves the problem iteratively by filling a
table from the smallest subproblem to the largest.

34. What is a greedy algorithm?

Answer:
A greedy algorithm makes locally optimal choices at each step, hoping to find a global
optimum. Greedy algorithms are often used for problems like the Fractional Knapsack
problem and Prim's and Kruskal's algorithms for finding minimum spanning trees.

35. What is the knapsack problem?

Answer:
The Knapsack problem is a classic optimization problem where you have a set of items,
each with a weight and value, and you must choose a subset of the items to maximize the
total value without exceeding a given weight capacity. It can be solved using dynamic
programming.
36. What is the traveling salesman problem (TSP)?

Answer:
The Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) is an optimization problem where a salesman must
visit a set of cities and return to the starting city while minimizing the total distance traveled.
The problem is NP-hard, and dynamic programming or approximation algorithms are used to
find solutions.

37. What is the Floyd-Warshall algorithm?

Answer:
The Floyd-Warshall algorithm is a dynamic programming algorithm used to find the
shortest paths between all pairs of vertices in a graph. It works by considering each possible
intermediate vertex and updating the shortest paths.

38. What is Bellman-Ford algorithm?

Answer:
The Bellman-Ford algorithm is used to find the shortest path from a single source vertex to
all other vertices in a graph, even when there are negative-weight edges. It runs in O(V * E)
time, where V is the number of vertices and E is the number of edges.

39. What is the time complexity of Dijkstra's algorithm?

Answer:
The time complexity of Dijkstra's algorithm is O((V + E) * log V) when using a priority
queue (binary heap), where V is the number of vertices and E is the number of edges.

40. What is a Red-Black Tree?

Answer:
A Red-Black Tree is a self-balancing binary search tree where each node is either red or
black. It ensures that the tree remains balanced, providing O(log n) time for insertion,
deletion, and search.

41. What is the difference between a binary search tree (BST) and a Red-
Black Tree?

Answer:
  BST: A binary tree where the left child is smaller than the parent, and the right child
is greater. No guarantees on balance.
 Red-Black Tree: A self-balancing BST that maintains balance using color properties,
ensuring O(log n) operations.

42. What is a B-tree?

Answer:
A B-tree is a self-balancing tree data structure that maintains sorted data and allows searches,
sequential access, insertions, and deletions in logarithmic time. B-trees are used in databases
and file systems.

43. What is the divide and conquer technique?

Answer:
Divide and conquer is an algorithmic technique that breaks a problem down into smaller
subproblems, solves each subproblem recursively, and combines the results. Common
examples include Merge Sort and Quick Sort.

44. What is Quick Sort?

Answer:
Quick Sort is a divide-and-conquer sorting algorithm that selects a pivot element, partitions
the array into two subarrays (elements smaller and larger than the pivot), and recursively
sorts the subarrays. The average time complexity is O(n log n), but the worst-case time
complexity is O(n²).

45. What is Merge Sort?

Answer:
Merge Sort is a divide-and-conquer sorting algorithm that splits the array into two halves,
recursively sorts them, and merges the sorted halves. The time complexity is O(n log n) in all
cases.

46. What is the difference between Quick Sort and Merge Sort?

Answer:
  Quick Sort: In-place sorting (no extra space required), but has a worst-case time
complexity of O(n²) if the pivot is not chosen well.
 Merge Sort: Requires extra space for merging (O(n) additional space), but guarantees
O(n log n) time complexity in all cases.

47. What is Heap Sort?

Answer:
Heap Sort is a comparison-based sorting algorithm that uses a binary heap data structure. It
first builds a max heap, then repeatedly swaps the root (maximum element) with the last
element of the heap and reduces the heap size. The time complexity is O(n log n), and it is in-
place but not stable.

48. What is Insertion Sort?

Answer:
Insertion Sort is a simple sorting algorithm that builds the final sorted array one element at a
time. It compares the current element to the elements in the sorted part of the array and
inserts it into the correct position. The time complexity is O(n²) for average and worst cases.

49. What is Bubble Sort?

Answer:
Bubble Sort is a simple sorting algorithm that repeatedly swaps adjacent elements if they are
in the wrong order. It has a worst-case time complexity of O(n²) and is inefficient for large
datasets.

50. What is Selection Sort?

Answer:
Selection Sort is a comparison-based sorting algorithm that repeatedly selects the smallest
element from the unsorted portion of the array and swaps it with the first unsorted element.
The time complexity is O(n²).

51. What is the time complexity of Merge Sort?

Answer:
The time complexity of Merge Sort is O(n log n) in the best, average, and worst cases. It
requires additional space for merging, making the space complexity O(n).
52. What is the time complexity of Quick Sort?

Answer:
The time complexity of Quick Sort is O(n log n) on average but O(n²) in the worst case
(when the pivot selection is poor, like always picking the smallest or largest element).

53. What is the time complexity of Heap Sort?

Answer:
The time complexity of Heap Sort is O(n log n) in the best, average, and worst cases. It is an
in-place sorting algorithm but not stable.

54. What is a stable sorting algorithm?

Answer:
A stable sorting algorithm preserves the relative order of elements with equal keys. For
example, if two items have the same value, they remain in the same order before and after
sorting. Examples of stable sorting algorithms include Merge Sort and Insertion Sort.

55. What is a recursive algorithm?

Answer:
A recursive algorithm is one that calls itself with a smaller subproblem as input. Recursion
is commonly used in algorithms like DFS, Quick Sort, and Merge Sort. A recursive algorithm
typically has a base case to terminate the recursion.

56. What is a greedy algorithm?

Answer:
A greedy algorithm makes the best local choice at each step with the hope of finding the
global optimum. It is used in problems like the Fractional Knapsack problem, Prim's
algorithm, and Kruskal's algorithm.

57. What is memoization?

Answer:
Memoization is an optimization technique used in dynamic programming where the results
of expensive function calls are cached and reused when the same inputs occur again, thus
avoiding redundant calculations.

58. What is a hash function?

Answer:
A hash function is a function that takes input (or a key) and returns a fixed-size string of
bytes (usually an integer) that appears random. Hash functions are used in hash tables to
compute the index for storing and retrieving elements.

59. What is a binary search?

Answer:
Binary Search is a search algorithm that finds the position of a target value within a sorted
array. It repeatedly divides the search interval in half and checks whether the target value is
smaller or greater than the middle element. The time complexity is O(log n).

60. What is interpolation search?

Answer:
Interpolation Search is an improved variant of binary search for uniformly distributed data.
It estimates the position of the target by using the formula of linear interpolation and then
compares the value at the estimated position. The time complexity is O(log log n) for
uniformly distributed data but can degrade to O(n) in the worst case.