Core Java - Interview Questions and Answers for 'Architect' | Search Interview Question

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Very frequently asked in companies using SOA.

Q11. What are RESTful Web Services ?

Ans. REST or Representational State Transfer is a flexible architecture style for creating web services that recommends the following guidelines -

1. http for client server communication,
2. XML / JSON as formatiing language ,
3. Simple URI as address for the services and,
4. stateless communication.

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Frequently asked to experienced developers. Recently asked in many US interviews.

Q12. What is database deadlock ? How can we avoid them?

Database

Ans. When multiple external resources are trying to access the DB locks and runs into cyclic wait, it may makes the DB unresponsive.

Deadlock can be avoided using variety of measures, Few listed below -

Can make a queue wherein we can verify and order the request to DB.

Less use of cursors as they lock the tables for long time.

Keeping the transaction smaller.

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Advanced level question. Recently asked in few Indian service companies ( Based on 3 inputs )

Q13. What are various types of Class loaders used by JVM ?

Core Java

Ans. Bootstrap - Loads JDK internal classes, java.* packages.

Extensions - Loads jar files from JDK extensions directory - usually lib/ext directory of the JRE

System - Loads classes from system classpath.

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Q14. Difference between SAX and DOM Parser ?

Xml

Ans. A DOM (Document Object Model) parser creates a tree structure in memory from an input document whereas A SAX (Simple API for XML) parser does not create any internal structure.

A SAX parser serves the client application always only with pieces of the document at any given time whereas A DOM parser always serves the client application with the entire document no matter how much is actually needed by the client.

A SAX parser, however, is much more space efficient in case of a big input document whereas DOM parser is rich in functionality.

Use a DOM Parser if you need to refer to different document areas before giving back the information. Use SAX is you just need unrelated nuclear information from different areas.

Xerces, Crimson are SAX Parsers whereas XercesDOM, SunDOM, OracleDOM are DOM parsers.

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Q15. What things should be kept in mind while creating your own exceptions in Java?

Core Java

Ans. All exceptions must be a child of Throwable.

If you want to write a checked exception that is automatically enforced by the Handle or Declare Rule, you need to extend the Exception class.

You want to write a runtime exception, you need to extend the RuntimeException class.

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Q16. Difference between C++ and Java ?

Core Java

Ans. Java does not support pointers.

Java does not support multiple inheritances.

Java does not support destructors but rather adds a finalize() method. Finalize methods are invoked by the garbage collector prior to reclaiming the memory occupied by the object, which has the finalize() method.

Java does not include structures or unions because the traditional data structures are implemented as an object oriented framework.

C++ compiles to machine language , when Java compiles to byte code .

In C++ the programmer needs to worry about freeing the allocated memory , where in Java the Garbage Collector takes care of the the unneeded / unused variables.

Java is platform independent language but c++ is depends upon operating system.

Java uses compiler and interpreter both and in c++ their is only compiler.

C++ supports operator overloading whereas Java doesn't.

Internet support is built-in Java but not in C++. However c++ has support for socket programming which can be used.

Java does not support header file, include library files just like C++ .Java use import to include different Classes and methods.

There is no goto statement in Java.

There is no scope resolution operator :: in Java. It has . using which we can qualify classes with the namespace they came from.

Java is pass by value whereas C++ is both pass by value and pass by reference.

Java Enums are objects instead of int values in C++

C++ programs runs as native executable machine code for the target and hence more near to hardware whereas Java program runs in a virtual machine.

C++ was designed mainly for systems programming, extending the C programming language whereas Java was created initially to support network computing.

C++ allows low-level addressing of data. You can manipulate machine addresses to look at anything you want. Java access is controlled.

C++ has several addressing operators . * & -> where Java has only one: the .

We can create our own package in Java(set of classes) but not in c and c++.

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Q17. Why Struts 1 Classes are not Thread Safe whereas Struts 2 classes are thread safe ?

Ans. Struts 1 actions are singleton. So all threads operates on the single action object and hence makes it thread unsafe.

Struts 2 actions are not singleton and a new action object copy is created each time a new action request is made and hence its thread safe.

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Q18. What things you would care about to improve the performance of Application if its identified that its DB communication that needs to be improved ?

Solution

Ans. 1. Query Optimization ( Query Rewriting , Prepared Statements )

2. Restructuring Indexes.

3. DB Caching Tuning ( if using ORM )

4. Identifying the problems ( if any ) with the ORM Strategy ( If using ORM )

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Q19. What are strong, soft, weak and phantom references in Java ?

Core Java

Ans. Garbage Collector wont remove a strong reference.

A soft reference will only get removed if memory is low.

A weak reference will get removed on the next garbage collection cycle.

A phantom reference will be finalized but the memory will not be reclaimed. Can be useful when you want to be notified that an object is about to be collected.

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Q20. How Java provide high Performance ?

Core Java

Ans. Java uses Just-In-Time compiler to enable high performance. Just-In-Time compiler is a program that turns Java bytecode into instructions that can be sent directly to the processor.

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Q21. How to configure second level cache in Hibernate ?

Hibernate

Ans. 1. Configure Provider class in Hibernate configuration file.

2. Add Cache usage tag ( read-only or read-write ) in mapping files ( hbm ).

3. Create an XML file called ehcache.xml and place in classpath which contains time settings and update settings, behavior of cache , lifetime and idletime of Pojos, how many objects are allowed.

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Q22. If you are given a choice to implement the code to either Insert a Record or Update if already exist, Which approach will you follow ?

1. Insert into the DB Table. If exception occurs, update the existing record.
2. Check if the record exists and update it if it exists, If not insert a new record.

Solution

Ans. In first case, there would be 2 DB calls in worst case and 1 in best case. In 2nd approach there will be always 2 DB calls.

Decision on the approach should depend on the following considerations -

1. How costly is the call to DB ? Are we using indices , hibernate etc

If calls to DB are costly , 1st approach should be the choice.

2. Exception Book keeping load upon exception.

The benefit of saving 1st call in approach 1 should be bigger than the Book keeping for the exception.

3. Probability of the exception in first apparoach.

If the DB Table is almost empty, it makes sense to follow Approach 1 as majority of the 1st calls will pass through without exception.

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Q23. What is meant by an "asynchronous event." Give some examples ?

Operating System

Ans. An asynchronous event is one that occurs at an unpredictable time outside the control of the program that the CPU is running. It is not "synchronized" with the program.

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Q24. Different types of memory used by JVM ?

Core Java

Ans. Class , Heap , Stack , Register , Native Method Stack.

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Q25. Can we have multiple servlets in a web application and How can we do that ?

Java EE

Ans. Yes by making entries in web.xml

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Q26. What are some Java related technologies used for distributed computing ?

Ans. sockets, RMI. EJB

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Q27. What is DTD ?

Xml

Ans. DTD or Document Type Definition is a standard agreed upon way of communication between two parties. Your application can use a standard DTD to verify that data that you receive
from the outside world is valid and can be parsed by your parser.

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Q28. What is XSD ?

Xml

Ans. XSD or Xml Schema Definition is an extension of DTD. XSD is more powerful and extensible than DTD

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Q29. Difference between socket and servlet ?

Java EE

Ans. servlet is a small, server-resident program that typically runs automatically in response to user input.
A network socket is an endpoint of an inter-process communication flow across a computer network.

We can think of it as a difference between door and gate. They are similar as they both are entry points but they are different as they are put up at different areas.

Sockets are for low-level network communication whereas Servlets are for implementing websites and web services

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Q30. What is PermGen or Permanent Generation ?

Core Java

Ans. The memory pool containing all the reflective data of the java virtual machine itself, such as class and method objects. With Java VMs that use class data sharing, this generation is divided into read-only and read-write areas. The Permanent generation contains metadata required by the JVM to describe the classes and methods used in the application. The permanent generation is populated by the JVM at runtime based on classes in use by the application. In addition, Java SE library classes and methods may be stored here.

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Q31. What is metaspace ?

Core Java

Ans. The Permanent Generation (PermGen) space has completely been removed and is kind of replaced by a new space called Metaspace. The consequences of the PermGen removal is that obviously the PermSize and MaxPermSize JVM arguments are ignored and you will never get a java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: PermGen error.

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Q32. How substring() method of String class create memory leaks?

Core Java

Ans. substring method would build a new String object keeping a reference to the whole char array, to avoid copying it. Hence you can inadvertently keep a reference to a very big character array with just a one character string.

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Q33. What are the advantages of Hibernate ?

Hibernate

Ans. 1. No need to know SQL, RDBMS, and DB Schema.
2. Underlying Database can be changed without much effort by changing SQL dialect and DB connection.
3.Improved Performance by means of Caching.

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Q34. What are the considerations to be made in case of loops in Java ?

Core Java

Ans. 1. It shouldn't result in infinite loop. Please make sure that you have a condition that will terminate the loop and that condition should be reached.

2. Make sure to use the break statement if you aspire to only look for something. Not using break will unnecessarily execute it till the end of for loop in some cases.

3. Similarly use continue to execute the loop with next iteration and bypass the rest of the code block if required.

4. Try to avoid multiple nesting of for loops. If it''s required, Make sure to use break and continue properly so as to avoid some unnecessary processing.

5. Make sure to use try catch within the loop and not outside the for loop if you expect it to continue if one of the iteration fails.

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Q35. Describe structure of a Web application.

architecture

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Q36. what is content negotiation?

Ans. Suppose we want to visit a site for any information, information can be represented in different languages like English,German or may be other and their format for presentation can also differ from HTML to PDF or may be Plain text. In this case when an client makes an HTTP request to a server, client can also specify the media types here. Client can specify what it can accept back from host and on the basis of availability the host will return to the client. This is called content negotiation because client and server negotiated on the language and format of the content to be shared.

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Q37. What is the difference between AWT and Swing?

Ans. Swing provides both additional components like JTable, JTree etc and added functionality to AWT-replacement components.

Swing components can change their appearance based on the current â€œlook and feelâ€ library thatâ€™s being used.

Swing components follow the MVC paradigm, and thus can provide a much more flexible UI.

Swing provides extras for components, such as icons on many components, decorative borders for components, tool tips for components etc.

Swing components are lightweight than AWT.

Swing provides built-in double buffering ,which means an off-screen buffer is used during drawing and then the resulting bits are copied onto the screen.

Swing provides paint debugging support for when you build your own component.

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Q38. Name few tools for probing Java Memory Leaks ?

Ans. JProbe, OptimizeIt

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Q39. What is unmarshalling ?

Ans. Its the process of creating Java Objects out of XML structures.

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Q40. What are LDAP servers used for ?

Java EE

Ans. LDAP servers are typically used in J2EE applications to authenticate and authorise users. LDAP servers are hierarchical and are optimized for read access, so likely to be faster than database in providing read access.

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