Software Engineering Interview Questions and Answers
Ques 21. What is the purpose of the 'finalize' method in Java? Why is it not recommended for cleanup operations?
The 'finalize' method is called by the garbage collector before an object is reclaimed. It's not recommended for cleanup operations because there's no guarantee when it will be called, and it may not be called at all.
Example:
Implementing the 'finalize' method in a class for resource cleanup, but not relying on it for critical cleanup tasks.
Ques 22. Explain the concept of a design pattern. Provide an example of a creational design pattern.
Design patterns are reusable solutions to common problems in software design. A creational design pattern is concerned with object creation mechanisms. Example: The Singleton pattern ensures a class has only one instance and provides a global point of access to it.
Example:
Implementing the Singleton pattern in Java to create a single instance of a configuration manager.
Ques 23. What is the purpose of the 'volatile' keyword in Java? How does it differ from other synchronization mechanisms?
The 'volatile' keyword in Java is used to indicate that a variable's value may be changed by multiple threads simultaneously. It differs from other synchronization mechanisms by ensuring visibility without acquiring locks.
Example:
Declaring a variable as 'volatile' in Java to ensure proper visibility in a multithreaded environment.
Ques 24. Explain the concept of Big-O notation. Why is it important in algorithm analysis?
Big-O notation describes the upper bound on the growth rate of an algorithm's running time or space requirements. It helps analyze and compare the efficiency of algorithms, especially as input sizes become large.
Example:
Expressing the time complexity of a sorting algorithm as O(n log n) based on the size of the input data.
Ques 25. What is the difference between a shallow copy and a deep copy of an object?
A shallow copy creates a new object but does not duplicate the nested objects. A deep copy creates a new object and recursively duplicates all objects referenced by the original.
Example:
Creating a shallow copy of an array in Python using 'copy.copy()'. Creating a deep copy using 'copy.deepcopy()'.
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