Core java - Interview Questions and Answers for 'Cognizant (cts)' | Search Interview Question

Core java - Interview Questions and Answers for 'Cognizant (cts)' - 57 question(s) found - Order By Newest

Advanced level question. Frequently asked in High end product companies. Frequently asked in Google , Cognizant and Deloitte ( Based on 2 feedback )

Q1. Why is String immutable in Java ?

Core Java

Ans. 1. String Pool - When a string is created and if it exists in the pool, the reference of the existing string will be returned instead of creating a new object. If string is not immutable, changing the string with one reference will lead to the wrong value for the other references.

Example -

String str1 = "String1";
String str2 = "String1"; // It doesn't create a new String and rather reuses the string literal from pool

// Now both str1 and str2 pointing to same string object in pool, changing str1 will change it for str2 too

2. To Cache its Hashcode - If string is not immutable, One can change its hashcode and hence it's not fit to be cached.

3. Security - String is widely used as parameter for many java classes, e.g. network connection, opening files, etc. Making it mutable might possess threats due to interception by the other code segment.

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Very frequently asked in different variations. Frequently asked in Deloitte ( 2 feedback ) , HCL Tech ( 3 feedback ), TCS and Coginizant (CTS)

Q2. Explain the scenerios to choose between String , StringBuilder and StringBuffer ?

or

What is the difference between String , StringBuilder and StringBuffer ?

Core Java

Ans. If the Object value will not change, use String Class because a String object is immutable.

If the Object value can change and will only be modified from a single thread, use StringBuilder because StringBuilder is unsynchronized(means faster).

If the Object value may change, and can be modified by multiple threads, use a StringBuffer because StringBuffer is thread safe(synchronized).

Sample Code for String

Sample Code for StringBuffer

Sample Code for StringBuilder

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Q3. Explain OOPs

or

Explain OOPs Principles

or

Explain OOPs Concepts

or

Explain OOPs features

or

Tell me something about OOPs

Core Java

Ans. OOPs or Object Oriented Programming is a Programming model which is organized around Objects instead of processes. Instead of a process calling series of processes, this model stresses on communication between objects. Objects that all self sustained, provide security by encapsulating it's members and providing abstracted interfaces over the functions it performs. OOP's facilitate the following features

1. Inheritance for Code Reuse
2. Abstraction for modularity, maintenance and agility
3. Encapsulation for security and protection
4. Polymorphism for flexibility and interfacing

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Very frequently asked. Favorite question in Walk in Drive of many Indian service companies. Frequently asked in HCL Technologies, TCS and Accenture.

Q4. What is the difference between final, finally and finalize() ?

Core Java

Ans. final - constant variable, objects cannot be de-referenced, restricting method overriding, restricting class sub classing.

finally - handles exception. The finally block is optional and provides a mechanism to clean up regardless of what happens within the try block. Use the finally block to close files or to release other system resources like database connections, statements etc.

finalize() - method helps in garbage collection. A method that is invoked before an object is discarded by the garbage collector, allowing it to clean up its state.

Sample Code for final

Sample Code for finally

Sample Code for finalize

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Very frequently asked. Favorite question in Walk in Drive of many Indian service companies.

Q5. What is the difference between ArrayList and LinkedList ?

Core Java

Ans. Underlying data structure for ArrayList is Array whereas LinkedList is the linked list and hence have following differences -

1. ArrayList needs continuous memory locations and hence need to be moved to a bigger space if new elements are to be added to a filled array which is not required for LinkedList.

2. Removal and Insertion at specific place in ArrayList requires moving all elements and hence leads to O(n) insertions and removal whereas its constant O(1) for LinkedList.

3. Random access using index in ArrayList is faster than LinkedList which requires traversing the complete list through references.

4. Though Linear Search takes Similar Time for both, Binary Search using LinkedList requires creating new Model called Binary Search Tree which is slower but offers constant time insertion and deletion.

5. For a set of integers you want to sort using quicksort, it's probably faster to use an array; for a set of large structures you want to sort using selection sort, a linked list will be faster.

Sample Code for ArrayList

Sample Code for LinkedList

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Q6. How can we run a java program without making any object?

Core Java

Ans. By putting code within static method. With Java 6 and earlier versions, even static block can be used.

Sample Code for static block

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Very Frequently asked. Have been asked in HCL Technologies very frequently ( based on 3 feedback ). Among first few questions in many interviews.

Q7. Differences between abstract class and interface ?

Core Java

Ans. Abstract classes can have both abstract methods ( method declarations ) as well as concrete methods ( inherited to the derived classes ) whereas Interfaces can only have abstract methods ( method declarations ).

A class can extend single abstract class whereas it can implement multiple interfaces.

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Frequently asked in all types of companies especially Indian Services companies. Frequently asked in CTS (Based on 2 feedback)

Q8. What is the use of hashcode in Java ?

Core Java

Ans. Hashcode is used for bucketing in Hash implementations like HashMap, HashTable, HashSet etc. The value received from hashcode() is used as bucket number for storing elements. This bucket number is the address of the element inside the set/map. when you do contains() then it will take the hashcode of the element, then look for the bucket where hashcode points to and if more than 1 element is found in the same bucket (multiple objects can have the same hashcode) then it uses the equals() method to evaluate if object are equal, and then decide if contain() is true or false, or decide if element could be added in the set or not.

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Very Frequently asked to fresh graduates and less experienced. Favorite question in Walk in drives. Frequently asked in Indian Services companies.

Q9. Difference between Overloading and Overriding ?

Core Java

Ans. Overloading - Similar Signature but different definition , like function overloading.

Overriding - Overriding the Definition of base class in the derived class.

Sample Code for overloading

Sample Code for overriding

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Q10. Can you give a real world example of Encapsulation and Abstraction ?

Core Java

Ans. Car Engine is an example of encapsulation and abstraction. You ignite the car using an interface called starter and least bothered about how the tire actually moves (This is abstraction). The engine encapsulates the complete process to itself only and doesn't allow you to start the other components like the radiator etc ( this is excapsulation )

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Frequently asked in Cognizant (CTS)

Q11. What is Serialization ? Why do we need it ?

Core Java

Ans. Storing the state of an object in a file or other medium is called serialization.

Classes can communicate only if they are built together ( as they need Byte code for communication ). What if we need to enable communication between different applications ( i.e they have been built independently or even they reside at different locations ), We need a mechanism that will transfer the Bean state to a Medium than can be transferred to the receiving application.

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Very frequently asked. Favorite question in Walk in Drive of many Indian service companies.

Q12. What is a final method ?

Core Java

Ans. Its a method which cannot be overridden. Compiler throws an error if we try to override a method which has been declared final in the parent class.

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Frequently asked to fresh graduates and less experienced.

Q13. Why do we write public static void main ? Can we use some other syntax too for main ?

Core Java

Ans. 1. public is the access modifier that makes the method accessible from anywhere, static is the keyword that makes it accessible even without creating any object, void means it doesn't return anything , String args[] is the array of argument that the method receives.

2. If we use main without the string args , it will compile correctly as Java will treat it as just another method. It wont be the method "main" which Java looks for when it looks to execute the class and hence will throw

Error: Main method not found in class , please define the main method as:
public static void main(String[] args)

3. Main is not a keyword but a special string that Java looks for while initiating the main thread.

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Frequently asked to fresh graduates and less experienced.

Q14. Difference between Composition and Inheritance ?

Core Java

Ans. Inheritance means a object inheriting reusable properties of the base class. Compositions means that an abject holds other objects.

In Inheritance there is only one object in memory ( derived object ) whereas in Composition , parent object holds references of all composed objects.

From Design perspective - Inheritance is "is a" relationship among objects whereas Composition is "has a" relationship among objects.

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Frequently asked to fresh graduates and less experienced developers.

Q15. Explain multithreading in Java ?

Core Java

Ans. 1. Multithreading provides better interaction with the user by distribution of task

2. Threads in Java appear to run concurrently, so it provides simulation for simultaneous activities.The processor runs each thread for a short time and switches among the threads to simulate sim-ultaneous execution (context-switching) and it make appears that each thread has its own processor.By using this feature, users can make it appear as if multiple tasks are occurring simultaneously when, in fact, each is running for only a brief time before the context is switched to the next thread.

3. We can do other things while waiting for slow I/O operations.In the java.iopackage, the class InputStreamhas a method, read(), that blocks until a byte is read from the stream or until an IOExceptionis thrown. The thread that executes this method cannot do anything elsewhile awaiting the arrival of another byte on the stream.

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Q16. What is a ConcurrentHashMap ?

Core Java

Ans. ConcurrentHashMap is a hashMap that allows concurrent modifications from multiple threads as there can be multiple locks on the same hashmap.

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Frequently asked in Indian Service Companies. Tech Mahindra ( Based on 3 inputs ) and Infosys ( 3 inputs )

Q17. What is the difference between List, Set and Map ?

or

What are the different Java Collections Interfaces ?

Core Java

Ans. List - Members are stored in sequence in memory and can be accessed through index.
Set - There is no relevance of sequence and index. Sets doesn't contain duplicates whereas multiset can have duplicates.
Map - Contains Key , Value pairs.

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Frequently asked at HCL Technologies ( Based on 3 feedback )

Q18. Difference between Checked and Unchecked exceptions ?

Core Java

Ans. Checked exceptions are the exceptions for which compiler throws an errors if they are not checked whereas unchecked exceptions are caught during run time only and hence can't be checked.

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Q19. What is the use of Transient Keyword ?

Core Java

Ans. It in Java is used to indicate that a field should not be serialized.

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Very Frequently asked. Usually asked along with String Class related questions.

Q20. What is an immutable class ?

Core Java

Ans. Class using which only immutable (objects that cannot be changed after initialization) objects can be created.

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Q21. Explain Autoboxing ?

Core Java

Ans. Autoboxing is the automatic conversion that the Java compiler makes between the primitive types and their corresponding object wrapper classes

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Very Frequently asked.

Q22. Explain throw, throws , try and catch in Java ?

Core Java

Ans. throw is used to re throw an exception.throws is used to declare that the method throws the respective exceptions.try block is used to identify if the respective block has thrown any exception.catch is used to catch the exception that has been thrown by the respective try block.

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Q23. Different ways of implementing Threads in Java ?

Core Java

Ans. Threads in Java can be implement either by Extending Thread class or implementing runnable interface.

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Very frequently asked. Usually asked with questions related to String. Frequently asked at CTS / Cognizant

Q24. What is an Immutable Object ?

Core Java

Ans. Object that can't be changed after instantiation.

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Q25. What is a class loader ? What are the different class loaders used by JVM ?

Core Java

Ans. Part of JVM which is used to load classes and interfaces.

Bootstrap , Extension and System are the class loaders used by JVM.

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Q26. Is it necessary that each try block to be followed by catch block ?

Core Java

Ans. It should be followed by either catch or finally block.

Sample Code for Retry in case of exception

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Q27. what is the difference between collections class vs collections interface ?

Core Java

Ans. Collections class is a utility class having static methods for doing operations on objects of classes which implement the Collection interface. For example, Collections has methods for finding the max element in a Collection.

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Frequently asked in CTS ( Based on 2 feedback )

Q28. What is the difference between comparable and comparator in java.util pkg?

Core Java

Ans. Comparable interface is used for single sequence sorting i.e.sorting the objects based on single data member where as comparator interface is used to sort the object based on multiple data members.

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Q29. 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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Q30. Does java allow implementation of multiple interfaces having Default methods with Same name and Signature ?

Core Java

Ans. No. Compilation error.

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